Li Yunfeng, Khuu Nancy, Prince Elisabeth, Alizadehgiashi Moien, Galati Elizabeth, Lavrentovich Oleg D, Kumacheva Eugenia
State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China.
Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 Saint George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada.
Sci Adv. 2019 Jul 5;5(7):eaav1035. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aav1035. eCollection 2019 Jul.
Defects in liquid crystals serve as templates for nanoparticle (NP) organization; however, NP assembly in cholesteric (Ch) liquid crystals is only beginning to emerge. We show interactive morphogenesis of NP assemblies and a Ch liquid crystalline host formed by cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), in which both the host and the guest experience marked changes in shape and structure as a function of concentration. At low NP loading, Ch-CNC droplets exhibit flat-ellipsoidal packing of Ch pseudolayers, while the NPs form a toroidal ring- or two cone-shaped assemblies at droplet poles. Increase in NP loading triggers reversible droplet transformation to gain a core-shell morphology with an isotropic core and a Ch shell, with NPs partitioning in the core and in disclinations. We show programmable assembly of droplets carrying magnetic NPs. This work offers a strategy for NP organization in Ch liquid crystals, thus broadening the spectrum of architectures of soft nanostructured materials.
液晶中的缺陷可作为纳米颗粒（NP）组装的模板；然而，胆甾型（Ch）液晶中的NP组装才刚刚开始出现。我们展示了NP组装体与由纤维素纳米晶体（CNC）形成的Ch液晶主体的相互作用形态发生，其中主体和客体的形状和结构都会随着浓度的变化而发生显著变化。在低NP负载量下，Ch-CNC液滴呈现出Ch假层的扁平椭球形堆积，而NP在液滴极点处形成环形或两个锥形组装体。NP负载量的增加会触发液滴可逆转变，形成具有各向同性核心和Ch壳层的核壳形态，NP则分布在核心和 disclinations 中。我们展示了携带磁性NP的液滴的可编程组装。这项工作为Ch液晶中的NP组装提供了一种策略，从而拓宽了软纳米结构材料的结构谱。
