Formation of nematic liquid crystals of sterically stabilized layered double hydroxide platelets

Polymer-brush-decorated colloidal platelets: precision synthesis and self-assembly

Polymer-brush-decorated platelets produced through surface-initiated polymerization formed unique self-assembled structures in solution and in the bulk.

Isotropic, nematic, and lamellar phases in colloidal suspensions of nanosheets

The phase diagram of colloidal suspensions of electrically charged nanosheets, such as clays, despite their many industrial uses, is not yet understood either experimentally or theoretically. When the nanosheet diameter is very large (∼100 nm to 1 µm), it is quite challenging to distinguish the lamellar liquid-crystalline phase from a nematic phase with strong stacking local order, often called "columnar" nematic. We show here that newly upgraded small-angle X-ray scattering beamlines at synchrotron radiation facilities provide high-resolution measurements which allow us to identify both phases unambiguously, provided that single domains can be obtained. We investigated dilute aqueous suspensions of synthetic Sb₃P₂O₁₄^3- nanosheets that self-organize into two distinct liquid-crystalline phases, sometimes coexisting in the same sample. Close examination of their X-ray reflection profiles in the directions perpendicular to the director demonstrates that these two mesophases are a columnar nematic and a lamellar phase. In the latter, the domain size reaches up to ∼20 µm, which means that each layer is made of >600 nanosheets. Because the lamellar phase was only rarely predicted in suspensions of charged disks, our results show that these systems should be revisited by theory or simulations. The unexpected stability of the lamellar phase also suggests that the rims and faces of Sb₃P₂O₁₄^3- nanosheets may have different properties, giving them a patchy particle character.

Liquid crystalline behaviour of self-assembled LAPONITE®/PLL-PEG nanocomposites

Synthetic LAPONITE®-clay particles with platelet-like shape display strong aging when dispersed in aqueous solutions, preventing the latter from reaching their natural liquid-crystalline equilibrium state. Here we introduce a facile method that successfully prevents this aging behaviour and enables accessing the systems' liquid-crystal and crystalline phases. We graft the comb-like polymer PLL-PEG (poly(l-lysine)-g-poly(ethylene glycol)) onto the clay surfaces from solution, thereby screening the negative surface charges and thus ensuring steric stabilisation. We show zeta-sizer and rheology measurements, respectively, confirming complete steric coating and that aging of dilute samples is completely suppressed even after a year. Using evaporation as a means to concentrate the particles, we observe various liquid crystalline textures under a polarized optical microscope (POM). Upon sequential spreading and drying, we are also able to obtain transparent films with hierarchical architecture.

Graphene and Other 2D Colloids: Liquid Crystals and Macroscopic Fibers

Two-dimensional colloidal nanomaterials are running into renaissance after the enlightening researches of graphene. Macroscopic one-dimensional fiber is an optimal ordered structural form to express the in-plane merits of 2D nanomaterials, and the formation of liquid crystals (LCs) allows the creation of continuous fibers. In the correlated system from LCs to fibers, understanding their macroscopic organizing behavior and transforming them into new solid fibers is greatly significant for applications. Herein, we retrospect the history of 2D colloids and discuss about the concept of 2D nanomaterial fibers in the context of LCs, elaborating the motivation, principle and possible strategies of fabrication. Then we highlight the creation, development and typical applications of graphene fibers. Additionally, the latest advances of other 2D nanomaterial fibers are also summarized. Finally, conclusions, challenges and perspectives are provided to show great expectations of better and more fibrous materials of 2D nanomaterials. This review gives a comprehensive retrospect of the past century-long effort about the whole development of 2D colloids, and plots a clear roadmap - "lamellar solid - LCs - macroscopic fibers - flexible devices", which will certainly open a new era of structural-multifunctional application for the conventional 2D colloids.

Mechanical reinforcement of epoxy with self-assembled synthetic clay in smectic order

Epoxy films containing self-assembled 2D colloidal α-zirconium phosphate nanoplatelets (ZrP) in smectic order were prepared using a simple, energy-efficient fabrication process suitable to industrial processing. The ZrP nanoplatelets form a chiral smectic mesophase with simultaneous lamellar order and helical arrangements in epoxy. The epoxy nanocomposite films are transparent and flexible and exhibit exceptionally high tensile modulus and strength. The findings have broad implications for development of multifunctional materials for engineering applications.

Gel, glass and nematic states of plate-like particle suspensions: charge anisotropy and size effects

The influence of the charge anisotropy and platelet size on the formation of gel and glass states and nematic phases in suspensions of plate-like particles is investigated using Monte Carlo simulations in the canonical ensemble.

Liquid Crystal Phases in Suspensions of Charged Plate-Like Particles

Anisotropic interactions in colloidal suspensions have recently emerged as a route for the design of new soft materials. Nonisotropic particles can form nematic, smectic, hexatic, and columnar liquid crystals. Although the formation of these phases is well rationalized when excluded volume is solely at play, the role of electrostatic interactions still remains unclear and even less so when particles present a charge heterogeneity, for example, clays. Here, we use Monte Carlo simulations of concentrated suspensions of charged disk-like particles to reveal the role of Coulomb interactions and charge anisotropy underlying liquid crystal formation and structures. We observe a vast zoo of exotic structures, going from hexatic to columnar phases, which are shown to be controlled by the charge anisotropy. The particle volume fraction at which these phases start to form is found to decrease with increasing Coulomb interactions and charge anisotropy, which suggests a route to tune the structure of aqueous liquid crystals.

Three-dimensional structure and defects in colloidal photonic crystals revealed by tomographic scanning transmission X-ray microscopy

Self-assembled colloidal crystals have attracted major attention because of their potential as low-cost three-dimensional (3D) photonic crystals. Although a high degree of perfection is crucial for the properties of these materials, little is known about their exact structure and internal defects. In this study, we use tomographic scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) to access the internal structure of self-assembled colloidal photonic crystals with high spatial resolution in three dimensions for the first time. The positions of individual particles of 236 nm in diameter are identified in three dimensions, and the local crystal structure is revealed. Through image analysis, structural defects, such as vacancies and stacking faults, are identified. Tomographic STXM is shown to be an attractive and complementary imaging tool for photonic materials and other strongly absorbing or scattering materials that cannot be characterized by either transmission or scanning electron microscopy or optical nanoscopy.

3D structure of nematic and columnar phases of hard colloidal platelets

We present small angle x-ray scattering data of single-domain nematic and columnar liquid crystal phases in suspensions of sterically stabilized gibbsite platelets. The measurements are performed with different sample orientations to obtain information about the three-dimensional structure of the liquid crystalline phases. With the x-ray beam incident along the director of the nematic phase a strong correlation peak is observed corresponding to the side-to-side interparticle correlations, which suggests a columnar nematic structure. Upon sample rotation this side-to-side correlation peak of the nematic shifts to higher Q-values, suggesting the presence of strong fluctuations of small stacks of particles with different orientations, while the overall particle orientation is constant. In the hexagonal columnar phase, clear Bragg intercolumnar reflections are observed. Upon rotation, the Q-value of these reflections remains constant while their intensity monotonically decreases upon rotation. This indicates that the column orientation fluctuates together with the particle director in the columnar phase. This difference between the behaviour of the columnar and the nematic reflections upon sample rotation is used to assign the liquid crystal phase of a suspension consisting of larger platelets, where identification can be ambiguous due to resolution limitations.

Aqueous suspensions of natural swelling clay minerals. 1. Structure and electrostatic interactions

In this article, we present a general overview of the organization of colloidal charged clay particles in aqueous suspension by studying different natural samples with different structural charges and charge locations. Small-angle X-ray scattering experiments (SAXS) are first used to derive swelling laws that demonstrate the almost perfect exfoliation of clay sheets in suspension. Using a simple approach based on geometrical constraints, we show that these swelling laws can be fully modeled on the basis of morphological parameters only. The validity of this approach was further extended to other clay data from the literature, in particular, synthetic Laponite. For all of the investigated samples, experimental osmotic pressures can be properly described by a Poisson-Boltzmann approach for ionic strength up to 10(-3) M, which reveals that these systems are dominated by repulsive electrostatic interactions. However, a detailed analysis of the Poisson-Boltzmann treatment shows differences in the repulsive potential strength that are not directly linked to the structural charge of the minerals but rather to the charge location in the structure for tetrahedrally charged clays (beidellite and nontronites) undergoing stronger electrostatic repulsions than octahedrally charged samples (montmorillonites, laponite). Only minerals subjected to the strongest electrostatic repulsions present a true isotropic to nematic phase transition in their phase diagrams. The influence of ionic repulsions on the local order of clay platelets was then analyzed through a detailed investigation of the structure factors of the various clay samples. It appears that stronger electrostatic repulsions improve the liquidlike positional local order.

Scanning transmission x-ray microscopy as a novel tool to probe colloidal and photonic crystals

Photonic crystals consisting of nano- to micrometer-sized building blocks, such as multiple sorts of colloids, have recently received widespread attention. It remains a challenge, however, to adequately probe the internal crystal structure and the corresponding deformations that inhibit the proper functioning of such materials. It is shown that scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) can directly reveal the local structure, orientations, and even deformations in polystyrene and silica colloidal crystals with 30-nm spatial resolution. Moreover, STXM is capable of imaging a diverse range of crystals, including those that are dry and inverted, and provides novel insights complementary to information obtained by benchmark confocal fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy techniques.

Lyotropic hexagonal columnar liquid crystals of large colloidal gibbsite platelets

We report the formation of hexagonal columnar liquid crystal phases in suspensions of large (570 nm diameter), sterically stabilized, colloidal gibbsite platelets in organic solvent. In thin cells these systems display strong iridescence originating from hexagonally arranged columns that are predominantly aligned perpendicularly to the cell walls. Small angle X-ray scattering and polarization microscopy indicate the presence of orientational fluctuations in the hexagonal columnar liquid crystal phase. The presence of decoupling of the average platelet orientation and the column axis as well as column undulations leading to a decrease of the effective column diameter are discussed. The fact that these phenomena are particularly pronounced in the vertical direction and are enhanced toward the bottom part of the system points to the role of gravitational compaction on the structure.

Bulk phase behavior of binary hard platelet mixtures from density functional theory

We investigate isotropic-isotropic, isotropic-nematic, and nematic-nematic phase coexistence in binary mixtures of circular platelets with vanishing thickness, continuous rotational degrees of freedom, and radial size ratios lambda up to 5. A fundamental measure density functional theory, previously used for the one-component model, is presented and results are compared against those from Onsager theory as a benchmark. For lambda<or=1.7 the system displays isotropic-nematic phase coexistence with a widening of the biphasic region for increasing values of lambda . For size ratios lambda>or=2, we find that demixing into two nematic states becomes stable and an isotropic-nematic-nematic triple point can occur. Fundamental measure theory gives a smaller isotropic-nematic biphasic region than Onsager theory and locates the transition at lower densities. Furthermore, nematic-nematic demixing occurs over a larger range of compositions at a given value of lambda than found in Onsager theory. Both theories predict the same topologies of the phase diagrams. The partial nematic order parameters vary strongly with composition and indicate that the larger particles are more strongly ordered than the smaller particles.

Liquid Crystalline Behavior and Related Properties of Colloidal Systems of Inorganic Oxide Nanosheets

Inorganic layered crystals exemplified by clay minerals can be exfoliated in solvents to form colloidal dispersions of extremely thin inorganic layers that are called nanosheets. The obtained “nanosheet colloids” form lyotropic liquid crystals because of the highly anisotropic shape of the nanosheets. This system is a rare example of liquid crystals consisting of inorganic crystalline mesogens. Nanosheet colloids of photocatalytically active semiconducting oxides can exhibit unusual photoresponses that are not observed for organic liquid crystals. This review summarizes experimental work on the phase behavior of the nanosheet colloids as well as photochemical reactions observed in the clay and semiconducting nanosheets system.