Liquid Crystal Emulsions

ABSTRACT

We review recent findings about the behavior of emulsions made of droplets suspended in liquid crystalline materials. By contrast to classical emulsions, which are usually made of isotropic oils and water, liquid crystal emulsions exhibit a variety of structures result in the ordering of the continuous phase. The droplets induce the formation of topological defects and distortions that lead to strong and anisotropic elastic forces between the particles. These elastic forces govern the stability and the ordering of the particles. This is observed in aqueous emulsions as well as in non-aqueous emulsions obtained from phase separation phenomena. It is shown that phase separations in liquid crystals can lead to the formation of highly ordered arrays of uniformly sized droplets. More generally, ordered structures seen in liquid crystal emulsions are of interest as examples of topologicallv-controlled organizations; they are also of potential practical importance as a novel way to control both the stability and the structures of colloidal particles.