Shock Induced Polarization in Liquid Crystalline Material(MBBA).

Endotoxin-induced structural transformations in liquid crystalline droplets.

The ordering of liquid crystals (LCs) is known to be influenced by surfaces and contaminants. Here, we report that picogram per milliliter concentrations of endotoxin in water trigger ordering transitions in micrometer-size LC droplets. The ordering transitions, which occur at surface concentrations of endotoxin that are less than 10(-5) Langmuir, are not due to adsorbate-induced changes in the...

High diffraction efficiency polarization gratings recorded by biphotonic holography in an azobenzene liquid crystalline polyester

Surface-Induced Ordering on Model Liquid Crystalline Dendrimers

The surface alignment of liquid crystalline dendrimers (LCDrs) is a key factor for many of their potential applications. Here, we present results from Monte Carlo simulations of LCDrs adsorbed on flat, impenetrable aligning substrates. A tractable coarse-grained force field for the inter-dendritic and the dendrimer-substrate interactions is introduced. We investigate the conformational and orde...

Design of polarization-dependent, flexural-torsional deformation in photo responsive liquid crystalline polymer networks.

Light responsive materials that exhibit wirelessly actuated, multidimensional deformation are excellent candidates for programmable matter applications such as morphing structures or soft robotics. A central challenge to designing adaptive structures from these materials is the ability accurately predict three dimensional deformations. Previous modeling efforts have focused almost exclusively o...

Photoisomerization-induced stable liquid crystalline cubic blue phase.

We have succeeded in obtaining a photoinduced liquid crystalline cubic BP in a mixture of photoinactive and photoresponsive bent-core mesogens. The UV stimulus can convert N* to cubic BP through photoisomerization of the azobenzene linkages included in the photoresponsive bent-core molecule.