Chinedum Osuji, University of Pennsylvania
Under the right conditions, liquid crystals form astonishing structures reminiscent of biological systems, shown here in actual (left) and false color (right), with the filaments in light blue and the flattened discs in yellow. (Credit: Christopher Browne)
Outcome: Scientists discovered a unique self-assembling network structure that forms when certain liquid crystal materials separate. These networks spontaneously create intricate patterns of filaments and disc-shaped structures through a series of physical transformations driven by competing forces.
Impact and Benefits: This discovery reveals a new mechanism for creating complex, organized structures through simple cooling processes. Understanding these self-assembling networks could lead to innovative approaches for designing new materials with tunable properties, applicable to industries ranging from filtration membranes to optical components and biological interfaces.
Explanation: When cooling a mixture of liquid crystal molecules and solvent, the liquid crystals don’t form typical spherical droplets. Instead, they create elongated filaments that grow, buckle, and collapse into interconnected networks. This behavior is driven by a competition between elastic forces within the liquid crystal and surface tension, creating dynamic self-driven assembly that mimics aspects of living systems.
Morimitsu, Y., Browne, C. A., Liu, Z., Severino, P. G., Gopinadhan, M., Sirota, E. B., Altintas, O., Edmond, K. V. and Osuji, C. O., Spontaneous assembly of condensate networks during the demixing of structured fluids. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 121 (39), 6 (2024) 10.1073/pnas.2407914121.