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Self-assembling, macroscopically oriented, polymer filaments: a doubly nematic organogel

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Self-assembling, macroscopically oriented, polymer filaments: a doubly nematic organogel. / Gleeson, H.F.; Liu, H.; Kaur, S. et al.
In: Soft Matter, Vol. 14, No. 45, 07.12.2018, p. 9159-9167.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Harvard

Gleeson, HF, Liu, H, Kaur, S, Srigengan, S, Görtz, V, Mandle, R & Lydon, JE 2018, 'Self-assembling, macroscopically oriented, polymer filaments: a doubly nematic organogel', Soft Matter, vol. 14, no. 45, pp. 9159-9167. https://doi.org/10.1039/C8SM01638K

APA

Gleeson, H. F., Liu, H., Kaur, S., Srigengan, S., Görtz, V., Mandle, R., & Lydon, J. E. (2018). Self-assembling, macroscopically oriented, polymer filaments: a doubly nematic organogel. Soft Matter, 14(45), 9159-9167. https://doi.org/10.1039/C8SM01638K

Vancouver

Gleeson HF, Liu H, Kaur S, Srigengan S, Görtz V, Mandle R et al. Self-assembling, macroscopically oriented, polymer filaments: a doubly nematic organogel. Soft Matter. 2018 Dec 7;14(45):9159-9167. Epub 2018 Oct 29. doi: 10.1039/C8SM01638K

Author

Gleeson, H.F. ; Liu, H. ; Kaur, S. et al. / Self-assembling, macroscopically oriented, polymer filaments: a doubly nematic organogel. In: Soft Matter. 2018 ; Vol. 14, No. 45. pp. 9159-9167.

Bibtex

@article{c620c692d1704cf9946e266ef8b247e8,
title = "Self-assembling, macroscopically oriented, polymer filaments: a doubly nematic organogel",
abstract = "Nanoscale phase separation and self-organisation in liquid crystals leads to the formation of remarkable hierarchical structures. There are several examples of heliconical nanofilament structures including in the nematic twist-bend (NTB) phase, the B4 phase and liquid crystal gels formed from the B4 phase. Both the formation of the polymer-like structures that permeate the soft-solids and their hierarchical structures are fascinating, not least because of the analogies that can be drawn with naturally-occurring structures. Here, we report a remarkably simple binary system formed from a non-symmetric BC molecule and the rod-like liquid crystal, 5CB. The pure bent-core system exhibits both nematic and dark conglomerate liquid crystal phases. At very low concentrations of the BC material (5-10%) this binary system spontaneously self-assembles into a soft solid formed from nanoscale filaments that are aligned by their nematic environment. Macroscopically, the soft solid shows behaviour that can be associated with both polymers and gels. Interestingly, the sub-micron scale structure of the filaments appears remarkably similar to some organised fibrous structures in nature (e.g. chitin, cellulose, insect cuticle, plant cell walls) something we attribute to self-assembly and self-organisation in an aligned liquid crystalline environment. The nanoscale structure of the filaments shows no features that can be associated with heliconical ordering down to length scales of tens of nanometers. However, the X-ray data suggest that a metastable rectangular columnar phase which is highly ordered in one dimension initially forms, changing to a hexagonal lattice on a timescale of tens of minutes. {\textcopyright} The Royal Society of Chemistry.",
keywords = "Liquid crystals, Nanotechnology, Phase separation, Self assembly, Systems (metallurgical), Hierarchical structures, Liquid crystal gel, Liquid crystal phasis, Liquid crystalline, Nano-scale phase separation, Nanoscale structure, Naturally occurring, Polymer-like structures, Polymers",
author = "H.F. Gleeson and H. Liu and S. Kaur and S. Srigengan and V. G{\"o}rtz and R. Mandle and J.E. Lydon",
year = "2018",
month = dec,
day = "7",
doi = "10.1039/C8SM01638K",
language = "English",
volume = "14",
pages = "9159--9167",
journal = "Soft Matter",
issn = "1744-683X",
publisher = "Royal Society of Chemistry",
number = "45",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Self-assembling, macroscopically oriented, polymer filaments: a doubly nematic organogel

AU - Gleeson, H.F.

AU - Liu, H.

AU - Kaur, S.

AU - Srigengan, S.

AU - Görtz, V.

AU - Mandle, R.

AU - Lydon, J.E.

PY - 2018/12/7

Y1 - 2018/12/7

N2 - Nanoscale phase separation and self-organisation in liquid crystals leads to the formation of remarkable hierarchical structures. There are several examples of heliconical nanofilament structures including in the nematic twist-bend (NTB) phase, the B4 phase and liquid crystal gels formed from the B4 phase. Both the formation of the polymer-like structures that permeate the soft-solids and their hierarchical structures are fascinating, not least because of the analogies that can be drawn with naturally-occurring structures. Here, we report a remarkably simple binary system formed from a non-symmetric BC molecule and the rod-like liquid crystal, 5CB. The pure bent-core system exhibits both nematic and dark conglomerate liquid crystal phases. At very low concentrations of the BC material (5-10%) this binary system spontaneously self-assembles into a soft solid formed from nanoscale filaments that are aligned by their nematic environment. Macroscopically, the soft solid shows behaviour that can be associated with both polymers and gels. Interestingly, the sub-micron scale structure of the filaments appears remarkably similar to some organised fibrous structures in nature (e.g. chitin, cellulose, insect cuticle, plant cell walls) something we attribute to self-assembly and self-organisation in an aligned liquid crystalline environment. The nanoscale structure of the filaments shows no features that can be associated with heliconical ordering down to length scales of tens of nanometers. However, the X-ray data suggest that a metastable rectangular columnar phase which is highly ordered in one dimension initially forms, changing to a hexagonal lattice on a timescale of tens of minutes. © The Royal Society of Chemistry.

AB - Nanoscale phase separation and self-organisation in liquid crystals leads to the formation of remarkable hierarchical structures. There are several examples of heliconical nanofilament structures including in the nematic twist-bend (NTB) phase, the B4 phase and liquid crystal gels formed from the B4 phase. Both the formation of the polymer-like structures that permeate the soft-solids and their hierarchical structures are fascinating, not least because of the analogies that can be drawn with naturally-occurring structures. Here, we report a remarkably simple binary system formed from a non-symmetric BC molecule and the rod-like liquid crystal, 5CB. The pure bent-core system exhibits both nematic and dark conglomerate liquid crystal phases. At very low concentrations of the BC material (5-10%) this binary system spontaneously self-assembles into a soft solid formed from nanoscale filaments that are aligned by their nematic environment. Macroscopically, the soft solid shows behaviour that can be associated with both polymers and gels. Interestingly, the sub-micron scale structure of the filaments appears remarkably similar to some organised fibrous structures in nature (e.g. chitin, cellulose, insect cuticle, plant cell walls) something we attribute to self-assembly and self-organisation in an aligned liquid crystalline environment. The nanoscale structure of the filaments shows no features that can be associated with heliconical ordering down to length scales of tens of nanometers. However, the X-ray data suggest that a metastable rectangular columnar phase which is highly ordered in one dimension initially forms, changing to a hexagonal lattice on a timescale of tens of minutes. © The Royal Society of Chemistry.

KW - Liquid crystals

KW - Nanotechnology

KW - Phase separation

KW - Self assembly

KW - Systems (metallurgical)

KW - Hierarchical structures

KW - Liquid crystal gel

KW - Liquid crystal phasis

KW - Liquid crystalline

KW - Nano-scale phase separation

KW - Nanoscale structure

KW - Naturally occurring

KW - Polymer-like structures

KW - Polymers

U2 - 10.1039/C8SM01638K

DO - 10.1039/C8SM01638K

M3 - Journal article

VL - 14

SP - 9159

EP - 9167

JO - Soft Matter

JF - Soft Matter

SN - 1744-683X

IS - 45

ER -