Yang Qiuyan, Jiang Yanqiu, Fan Dongyu, Zheng Kan, Zhang Jiayi, Xu Zhen, Yao Weiquan, Zhang Qingxu, Song Yihu, Zheng Qiang, Fan Liwu, Gao Weiwei, Gao Chao
MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Adsorption and Separation Materials & Technologies of Zhejiang Province , Zhejiang University , 38 Zheda Road , Hangzhou 310027 , People's Republic of China.
State Key Laboratory of Clean Energy Utilization , Zhejiang University , 38 Zheda Road , Hangzhou 310027 , People's Republic of China.
ACS Nano. 2019 Jul 23;13(7):8382-8391. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.9b03926. Epub 2019 Jul 12.
Creating long-lived topological textured liquid crystals (LCs) in confined nonspherical space is of significance in both generations of structures and fundamental studies of topological physics. However, it remains a great challenge due to the fluid character of LCs and the unstable tensional state of transient nonspheres. Here, we realize a rich series of topological textures confined in nonspherical geometries by drop impact assembly (DIA) of graphene oxide (GO) aqueous LCs. Various highly curved nonspherical morphologies of LCs were captured by gelator bath, generating distinct out-of-equilibrium yet long-lived macroscopic topological textures in 3D confinement. Our hydrodynamic investigations on DIA processes reveal that the shear-thinning fluid behavior of LCs and the arrested GO alignments mainly contribute to the topological richness in DIA. Utilizing the shaping behavior of GO LCs compared to other conventional linear polymers such as alginate, we further extend the DIA methodology to design more complex yet highly controllable functional composites and hybrids. This work thus reveals the potential to scale production of uniform yet anisotropic materials with rich topologic textures and tailored composition.
在受限的非球形空间中创建长寿命的拓扑纹理液晶（LCs），对于结构生成和拓扑物理的基础研究都具有重要意义。然而，由于液晶的流体特性和瞬态非球体不稳定的拉伸状态，这仍然是一个巨大的挑战。在这里，我们通过氧化石墨烯（GO）水性液晶的液滴冲击组装（DIA），实现了一系列丰富的受限在非球形几何结构中的拓扑纹理。凝胶浴捕获了各种高度弯曲的液晶非球形形态，在三维受限环境中产生了独特的非平衡但长寿命的宏观拓扑纹理。我们对液滴冲击组装过程的流体动力学研究表明，液晶的剪切变稀流体行为和被捕获的氧化石墨烯排列主要促成了液滴冲击组装中的拓扑丰富性。与其他传统线性聚合物（如藻酸盐）相比，利用氧化石墨烯液晶的成型行为，我们进一步扩展了液滴冲击组装方法，以设计更复杂但高度可控的功能复合材料和杂化材料。因此，这项工作揭示了规模化生产具有丰富拓扑纹理和定制组成的均匀且各向异性材料的潜力。
