Versatile Liquid Crystalline Templates

Abstract

Liquid crystals (LCs) are an intermediate state of matter possessing both the mobility of liquids and the long-range molecular ordering of crystalline solids. In combination with anisotropic features, LCs have been widely used for smart templates that provide unprecedented level of control over behavior of guest inclusions including guided-motion of colloids, molecular self-assembly, polymerization. In this context, we will present our recent works regarding how the unique features of LCs can be leveraged to template well-defined nanostructures of various materials.