Magnetic Tilting in Nematic Liquid Crystals driven by Self-Assembly

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel magnetic hybrid material where molecular tilt in nematic liquid crystals can be controlled through self-assembly of magnetic nanoparticles, enabling advanced material design.

Contribution

It presents a new method to manipulate molecular tilt in liquid crystals via self-assembly of magnetic nanoparticles, combining topological and anisotropic interactions.

Findings

Magnetic nanoparticles self-assemble within the liquid crystal matrix.

Molecular tilt can be tuned by balancing colloidal and anisotropic interactions.

Demonstrates potential for designing multifunctional soft materials.

Abstract

Self-assembly is one of the crucial mechanisms allowing to design multifunctional materials. Soft hybrid materials contain components of different nature and exhibit competitive interactions which drive self-organisation into structures of a particular function. Here we demonstrate a novel type of a magnetic hybrid material where the molecular tilt can be manipulated through a delicate balance between the topologically-assisted colloidal self-assembly of \rev{magnetic nanoparticles} and the anisotropic molecular interactions in a liquid crystal matrix.