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Liquid Crystalline Inorganic Nanosheet Colloids Derived From Layered Materials
Author(s) -
Miyamoto Nobuyoshi,
Nakato Teruyuki
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
israel journal of chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.908
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1869-5868
pISSN - 0021-2148
DOI - 10.1002/ijch.201200033
Subject(s) - nanosheet , colloid , nanotechnology , liquid crystal , graphite , chemistry , colloidal crystal , chemical engineering , materials science , organic chemistry , optoelectronics , engineering
Inorganic layered crystals such as clay minerals, layered niobates, and graphite are exfoliated in solvents to form colloidal dispersions of extremely thin inorganic nanosheets. Recently, the liquid crystal phases of these “nanosheet colloids” have been rediscovered and are attracting interest as new types of inorganic liquid crystals. The huge anisotropy of the mesogenic nanosheets compared to other liquid crystal systems is an important feature of the nanosheet liquid crystals for fundamental studies in the fields of colloid science and soft matter physics. In addition, the rich functionalities intrinsic to inorganic materials open a variety of applications such as smart colloids and composite materials with structural regularity. In this article, the recent progress of the emerging new materials of inorganic nanosheet liquid crystals is reviewed with a focus on the behaviors of each system, alignment by external field, and theoretical aspects.