Nanotechnology Now - Press Release: Liquid Crystal Design: Engineers develop technique to craft new materials using liquid crystals as structural guides

Home > Press > Liquid Crystal Design: Engineers develop technique to craft new materials using liquid crystals as structural guides

In this creative illustration, each small disc depicts actual data from computational models of nanometer-scale droplets containing liquid crystals, water and surfactants (molecules that lower the surface tensions of liquids). The different patterns show how the surfactants self-organize as they interact with liquid crystals on each droplet's surface.

Credit: Juan de Pablo, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Abstract:
Liquid crystals, ubiquitous in cell-phone screens and computer monitors, were known to science long before engineers realized their utility in displays and other technologies. Now, an international team of researchers has discovered how to use liquid crystals as scaffolding to build novel materials with undiscovered properties.

Liquid Crystal Design: Engineers develop technique to craft new materials using liquid crystals as structural guides

Arlington, VA | Posted on May 3rd, 2012

Reporting their findings in the journal Nature on May 3, the researchers describe a sophisticated computational model for determining how liquid crystals behave within the confines of nanometer-scale droplets containing molecules that lower the surface tensions of liquids, called surfactants.

The researchers, led by University of Wisconsin-Madison engineer Juan de Pablo, show that as the droplets cool, the liquid crystals confine the surfactant molecules, organizing them into discrete structures.

As the researchers adjusted the model's parameters, such as droplet size or surfactant concentration, the simulation revealed that it is possible to use the technique to guide self-assembled structures with a wide range of properties and applications.

For example, the researchers suggest the technique could be used to construct materials from DNA building blocks, allowing unique detectors for biological materials and toxins.

"The researchers have taken a new and exciting approach to the study of liquid crystals, which will have impact in several scientific and technical arenas," adds Mary Galvin, National Science Foundation (NSF) program director for Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers.

NSF supported the research through the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Center on Nanostructured Interfaces, an NSF Center of Excellence for Materials Research and Innovation.

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About National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2012, its budget is $7.0 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives over 50,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes about 11,000 new funding awards. NSF also awards nearly $420 million in professional and service contracts yearly.

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Contacts:
Media Contacts
Joshua A. Chamot
NSF
(703) 292-7730

Terry Devitt
Univeristy of Wisconsin - Madison
(608) 262-8282

Program Contacts
Mary E. Galvin
NSF
(703) 292-8562

Principal Investigators
Juan de Pablo
Univeristy of Wisconsin - Madison
(608) 262-7727