Self-assembled liquid-crystal gels in an emulsion.

Self-assembled liquid-crystal (LC) gels in an emulsion (i.e., LC gel droplets dispersed in aqueous solution) were prepared and investigated for the first time. The aggregation of gelator molecules confined in the LC droplets results in the formation of circular and highly folded nanoscale fibers, in contrast to the extended ones formed in the bulk LC gel. Another manifestation of the confinement effect is that the electrooptical behavior (switching times and contrast) of single LC gel droplets is largely determined by the droplet size. By bridging LC gels and LC emulsions, this study introduces a new hybrid LC system and offers new possibilities of exploring functional LC materials.