Reconfigurable self-assembly of porous anisotropic colloids in nematic liquid crystals

Ghosh, Souvik; Wu, Jin-Sheng; Golden, Nicholas; Longa, Lech; Smalyukh, Ivan I.

doi:10.1016/j.matt.2025.102563

Reconfigurable self-assembly of porous anisotropic colloids in nematic liquid crystals

Journal Article · Mon Feb 02 00:00:00 EST 2026 · Matter

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matt.2025.102563· OSTI ID:3018611

Ghosh, Souvik ^[1]; Wu, Jin-Sheng ^[1]; Golden, Nicholas ^[1]; Longa, Lech ^[2]; ^[3]

University of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)
Jagiellonian University, Krakow (Poland); Hiroshima University (Japan)
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); Hiroshima University (Japan)

Dispersions of anisotropic nanoparticles in liquid crystalline hosts recently yielded new soft condensed matter states, like the thermally reconfigurable monoclinic and orthorhombic biaxial nematic liquid crystals, with a plethora of unusual phases and phase transformations. Our current study shows that the nanoscale porous nature of colloids with micrometer-range overall dimensions also enables highly reconfigurable orientations and assemblies of the microparticles, allowing for realization of condensed matter states with unusual combinations of low-symmetry nematic or smectic order and fluidity. Much like the anisotropic nanoparticles studied previously, these nanoporous anisotropic colloids exhibit thermally reconfigurable oriented alignment with respect to the far-field director, as well as diverse low-symmetry liquid crystalline phase behaviors. Furthermore, our findings open doors to fundamental and applied uses of low-symmetry molecular-colloidal orientationally ordered states of matter with uninhibited fluidity, as well as liquid crystals with partial positional ordering, like low-symmetry smectics, which could lead to applications in metamaterial designs, electro-optics, photonics, etc.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: University of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Science Centre in Poland; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division (MSE)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0019293

Other Award/Contract Number:: 2021/43/B/ST3/03135

OSTI ID:: 3018611

Journal Information:: Matter, Journal Name: Matter Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 9; ISSN 2590-2385

Publisher:: Elsevier BVCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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