Recent progress at the interface between nanomaterial chirality and liquid crystals

Abstract

Chirality of nanomaterials is a rapidly evolving field, largely driven by the unique optical, electronic, magnetic or catalytic properties of plasmonic, magnetic and semiconductor nanomaterials among others. Liquid crystals continue to play a major role in developing a better understanding of their inherent chiroptical properties as well as serving as reporters to quantify and visualize nanomaterial chirality. Furthermore, liquid crystal phases are increasingly explored as potentially tuneable templates for the helical assembly of various types of nanomaterials. This review summarizes recent progress in this area by describing representative examples and key strategies pursued to interface nanomaterial and liquid crystal chirality. These studies focus on a range of organic and inorganic nanomaterials varying in size, shape and composition as well as on both thermotropic and lyotropic liquid crystal phases. Finally, the two materials concepts merge when liquid crystal molecules self-assemble into distinct filamentous chiral nanoshapes capable of templating other nanomaterials.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Chirality
• nanomaterials
• liquid crystals
• self-assembly
• templating

Acknowledgments

Some of the work by the authors highlighted in this review was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF; DMR-1506018, CHE-1659571, ECCS-1807364, DMR-1904091) and the Ohio Third Frontier (OTF) program for Ohio Research Scholars ‘Research Cluster on Surfaces in Advanced Materials’ (T.H.). We further thank Hossien Mirzajani for providing some of the drawings.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Division of Chemistry [Grant Number 1659571]; Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems [Grant Number 1807364]; Division of Materials Research [Grant Number 1506018,1904091].