Tunable templating of photonic microparticles via liquid crystal order-guided adsorption of amphiphilic polymers in emulsions
Ma, Xu and Han, Yucen and Zhang, Yan-Song and Geng, Yong and Majumdar, Apala and Lagerwall, Jan P. F. (2024) Tunable templating of photonic microparticles via liquid crystal order-guided adsorption of amphiphilic polymers in emulsions. Nature Communications, 15 (1). 1404. ISSN 2041-1723 (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45674-5)
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Abstract
Multiple emulsions are usually stabilized by amphiphilic molecules that combine the chemical characteristics of the different phases in contact. When one phase is a liquid crystal (LC), the choice of stabilizer also determines its configuration, but conventional wisdom assumes that the orientational order of the LC has no impact on the stabilizer. Here we show that, for the case of amphiphilic polymer stabilizers, this impact can be considerable. The mode of interaction between stabilizer and LC changes if the latter is heated close to its isotropic state, initiating a feedback loop that reverberates on the LC in form of a complete structural rearrangement. We utilize this phenomenon to dynamically tune the configuration of cholesteric LC shells from one with radial helix and spherically symmetric Bragg diffraction to a focal conic domain configuration with highly complex optics. Moreover, we template photonic microparticles from the LC shells by photopolymerizing them into solids, retaining any selected LC-derived structure. Our study places LC emulsions in a new light, calling for a reevaluation of the behavior of stabilizer molecules in contact with long-range ordered phases, while also enabling highly interesting photonic elements with application opportunities across vast fields.
ORCID iDs
Ma, Xu, Han, Yucen, Zhang, Yan-Song, Geng, Yong, Majumdar, Apala ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4802-6720 and Lagerwall, Jan P. F.;-
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Item type: Article ID code: 88176 Dates: DateEvent15 February 2024Published26 January 2024AcceptedSubjects: Science > Physics
Science > MathematicsDepartment: Faculty of Science > Mathematics and Statistics Depositing user: Pure Administrator Date deposited: 14 Feb 2024 13:04 Last modified: 25 Oct 2024 00:34 URI: https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/88176