Liquid Crystals with Nano and Microparticles

The following sections are included:

• Preface
• Contents

Liquid crystals are amazing materials. They are amazing because they combine, in a single phase, the fluidity of ordinary liquids with the longrange order that we otherwise find only in crystalline solids. This unique combination reflects the ability of the constituents to self-organize into ordered structures while maintaining a degree of translational freedom that is absent in the solid state. In fact, as counterintuitive as it may seem to the novice, the drive for liquid crystalline ordering is typically dominated by entropic effects, i.e. the ordered structures appear because these states minimize the constraints on the entities building up the phase…

This chapter aims to give the reader an overview of the full scope of the liquid crystalline state of matter and a first contact with colloids. The ambition is to introduce and explain all key phenomena and concepts that will be needed in the following chapters in a concise yet understandable way. We begin by introducing the nematic phase and defining the director concept. We then introduce the two classes of liquid crystals, thermotropics and lyotropics, discussing similarities and differences and defining necessary help concepts such as mesogenicity, amphiphilicity and micelle formation. In the context of lyotropic liquid crystals we also introduce some key concepts of colloids, which form a minimum base that the following more detailed chapter on colloids by Paul van der Schoot takes as a starting point. Thermotropic smectic and lyotropic lamellar phases are then discussed together, emphasizing shared aspects as well as their respective unique features. This is followed by columnar phases of disc-shaped thermotropic molecules and in lyotropic suspensions of nanorods, and then we introduce the modifications of the phase structures that chirality typically induces…

For most solid nanoparticles there are no true solvents in the sense that a powder or crystal of these nanoparticles would spontaneously dissolve when immersed in them. There are exceptions but these typically involve unusual solvents such as super acids or chemical modification of the particles to make particles and solvent compatible. Conventional fluids, including water, are generally poor solvents or dispersants and in them the nanoparticles need to be stabilised against aggregation. Indeed, nanoparticles dispersed or dissolved in a liquid behave very much like polymers and colloidal particles do. The properties of such dispersions can thus be understood in terms of what is known about the behaviour of colloids and polymer solutions. Important aspects are Van der Waals and Coulomb interactions, steric interactions, the impact of depletion agents, phase separation and the tendency of elongated colloidal particles and stiff polymers to form nematic and other types of liquid-crystalline phase. For this book a question of particular interest is how the nanoparticles behave if they are present in a liquid crystalline host fluid, and what kind of medium-induced interaction operates between these particles. However, most types of interaction are also present in isotropic host uids, so the attention of this chapter will primarily be directed towards conventional dispersions. I shall give an overview of the physico-chemical principles most relevant to understanding the behaviour of fluid dispersions and solutions of nanoparticles, using spherical, cylindrical and at, plate-like nanoparticles as illustrative examples.

Thermodynamics and dielectric properties of nematic liquid crystals doped with various nanoparticles have been studied in the framework of a molecular mean-field theory. It is shown that spherically isotropic nanoparticles effectively dilute the liquid crystal material and cause a decrease of the nematic-isotropic transition temperature, while anisotropic nanoparticles are aligned by the nematic host and, in turn, may significantly improve the liquid crystal alignment. In the case of strong interaction between spherical nanoparticles and mesogenic molecules, the nanocomposite possesses a number of unexpected properties: The nematic-isotropic co-existence region appears to be very broad, and the system either undergoes a direct transition from the isotropic phase into the phase-separated state, or undergoes first a transition into the homogeneous nematic phase and then phase-separates at a lower temperature. The phase separation does not occur for sufficiently low nanoparticle concentrations, and, in certain cases, the separation takes place only within a finite region of the nanoparticle concentration. For nematics doped with strongly polar nanoparticles, the theory predicts the nanoparticle aggregation in linear chains that make a substantial contribution to the static dielectric anisotropy and optical birefringence of the nematic composite. The theory clarifies the microscopic origin of important phenomena observed in nematic composites including a shift of the isotropic-nematic phase transition and improvement of the nematic order; a considerable softening of the first order nematic-isotropic transition; a complex phase-separation behavior; and a significant increase of the dielectric anisotropy and the birefringence.

The fast-growing field of liquid crystal colloids requires increasingly sophisticated optical microscopy tools for experimental studies. Recent technological advances have resulted in a vast body of new imaging modalities, such as nonlinear optical microscopy techniques, that were developed to achieve high resolution while probing director structures and material composition at length scales ranging from hundreds of nanometers to macroscopic. These techniques are ideally suited for experimental exploration of liquid crystal colloids.

The goal of this chapter is to introduce a variety of optical microscopy techniques available to researchers in the field, starting from basic principles and finishing with a discussion of the most advanced microscopy systems. We describe traditional imaging tools, such as bright field and polarizing optical microscopy, along with state-of-the-art orientationsensitive three-dimensional imaging techniques, such as various nonlinear optical microscopies. Applications of these different imaging approaches are illustrated by providing specific examples of imaging of liquid crystal colloids and other soft matter systems.

This chapter will give the reader the necessary background to appreciate what information X-ray diffraction can provide on systems of nano and microparticles in liquid crystals. We give a brief introduction to scattering of X-rays on an isolated object (Sec. 1), on an isotropic liquid or glass (Sec. 2) and on the nematic liquid crystal (Sec. 3). This is followed by a description of small-angle scattering (SAXS) on particles of spherical shape (Sec. 4) and on anisometric particles (platelets, rods and ellipsoids). Selected examples of SAXS studies of such particles in thermotropic and lyotropic liquid crystals are given in Sec. 6. Diffraction on periodic particle arrays (2-d and 3-d) is introduced in Sec. 7, while in Sec. 8 we deal with grazing incidence X-ray diffraction and Xray reectivity. Finally selected examples of X-ray studies of periodic nanoparticle arrays in liquid crystals are described in Sec. 9. Although not specifically stated, most of the material covered by this chapter also applies to neutron scattering.

Raman spectroscopy has been used as a tool to study liquid crystals for several decades. There are several features that make Raman spectroscopy an important characterisation method. It is bond-specific, so can provide information about the interaction of liquid crystals with colloidal systems and can offer an insight into phase transitions. The polarization dependence of the scattering can be used to determine order parameters in liquid crystal systems. Finally, the relatively high spatial resolution of the technique (∽1 μm) can be used to explore spatiallydependent order in soft matter systems. This chapter describes the most important ways in which Raman spectroscopy can be used to reveal information about liquid crystal systems, illustrated by examples. Both the theoretical background and experimental considerations are described, providing a comprehensive introduction to anybody interested in using the technique to understand liquid crystal systems.

In this chapter the basic techniques and underlaying concepts of trapping and manipulation of microparticles in liquid crystal (LC) systems are presented. The laser trapping in LCs is extremely efficient and it is based on different principles than laser trapping in isotropic solvents. In addition to conventional laser trapping, the laser light can reorient LC molecules and at high powers also heat the LC in isotropic phase. Due to these optical and thermal effects of laser tweezers on LC different trapping mechanisms are possible at different rate of laser power and all are presented qualitatively and quantitatively by measuring the trapping forces. Besides trapping and manipulation of single inclusions, laser tweezers are also used for assisted self-assembly of variety of periodic 2D and 3D colloidal structures, while most of them can not be assembled without help of laser tweezers. The concepts and different techniques of laser assisted assembly are presented.

This chapter provides an introduction to the atomic force microscopy (AFM) on thermotropic liquid crystals. We first give a general introduction to the technique of AFM and then describe the special requirements that have to be met for the imaging of liquid-crystalline surfaces. We also discuss the relation between the quality or reliability of the imaging results and various parameters of the scanning conditions. We briey review the existing work on AFM on liquid crystals and finally describe applications beyond the imaging, such as molecular force spectroscopy or manipulation of surface structures.

A brief historic overview of colloidal experiments in the 1990’s is given in the introduction. These experiments have later inspired research on nematic colloids, after the technique of laser tweezers manipulation of particles was introduced to this field. Basic topological properties of colloidal inclusions in the nematic liquid crystals are discussed and the nematic-mediated forces between dipolar and quadrupolar colloidal particles in bulk nematic are explained. Structural and topological properties of 2D and 3D colloidal crystals and superstructures made of colloidal particles of different size and symmetry in bulk nematic liquid crystal are described. Laser-tweezer manipulation and rewiring of topological defect loops around colloidal particles is introduced. This results in the colloidal entanglement, as well as knotting and linking of defect loops of the order parameter field. Shape and size-dependent colloidal interactions in the nematic liquid crystals are reviewed. The chapter concludes with the discussion of bulk chiral nematic and blue phase colloids.

Smectic liquid crystal phases have a unique property: Like soap solutions, they can form stable freely suspended films. Their aspect ratios can be larger than one million to one. Such films can serve as models for two-dimensional (2D) uids, with or without in-plane anisotropy. Solid or liquid inclusions trapped in these films by capillary forces can move in the film plane and interact with other inclusions, with film thickness gradients or the film boundaries, and even with the local orientation field. We describe preparation techniques to incorporate particles or droplets in thin smectic films, and optical observation methods. Several aspects make inclusions in freely suspended films interesting research objects: They provide rich information on capillary forces as well as surface and interfacial tensions, they can serve as platforms for hydrodynamic studies in 2D, and they may help to understand coalescence dynamics at the transition from 2D to 3D…

This work presents a comparative review of electrokinetic effects in isotropic and anisotropic (liquid crystalline) electrolytes. A special emphasis is placed on nonlinear electrokinetics with ow velocities growing as the square of the applied electric field. This phenomenon allows one to drive steady motion of particles and uids with an alternating-current electric field. In isotropic electrolytes, spatial separation of charges that leads to nonlinear electrokinetics is achieved through the properties of the solid component (typically a metal). If the electrolyte is a liquid crystal (LC), its anisotropic properties enable separation of charges in the presence of orientational distortions and under the action of an electric field. LC anisotropy leads to electrically-driven motion of colloidal particles (liquid crystal-enabled electrophoresis, LCEP) and of the LC itself (liquid crystal-enabled electro-osmosis, LCEO). The induced charge is proportional to the applied field, director gradients, anisotropy of conductivity, and anisotropy of permittivity. The electric field acts on the space separated charges to drive the electro-osmotic ows. If the director deformations lack mirror symmetry, the LC enables electrophoresis of free particles and electro-osmotic pumping. The advantage of LCenabled electrokinetics (LCEK) is that its mechanism lifts many restrictions imposed on the properties of the solid counterpart. For example, LCEP can transport particles even if these particles are deprived of any surface charges; the particles can even be a uid immiscible with a LC or a gas bubble. In a similar fashion, LCEO can drive ows even if there are no oating electrodes. Ionic currents in LCs which have been traditionally considered an undesirable feature in displays offer a broad platform for versatile applications in electrokinetics of particles and uids, micropumping and mixing, and lab-on-a-chip analysis…

The self-assembly of disc-shaped molecules creates discotic liquid crystals (DLCs). These nanomaterials of the sizes ranging from 2-6 nm are emerging as a new class of organic semiconducting materials. The unique geometry of columnar mesophases formed by discotic molecules is of great importance to study the one-dimensional charge and energy migration in organized systems. A number of applications of DLCs, such as, one-dimensional conductor, photoconductor, photovoltaic solar cells, light emitting diodes and gas sensors have been reported. The conductivity along the columns in columnar mesophases has been observed to be several orders of magnitude greater than in perpendicular direction and, therefore, DLCs are described as molecular wires.

On the other hand, the fields of nanostructured materials, such as gold nanoparticles, quantum dots, carbon nanotubes and graphene, have received tremendous development in the past decade due to their technological and fundamental interest. Recently the hybridization of DLCs with various metallic and semiconducting nanoparticles has been realized to alter and improve their properties. These nanocomposites are not only of basic science interest but also lead to novel materials for many device applications.

This article provides an overview on the development in the field of newly immersed discotic nanoscience. After a brief introduction of DLCs, the article will cover the inclusion of various zero-, one- and two-dimensional nanoparticles in DLCs. Finally, an outlook into the future of this newly emerging intriguing field of discotic nanoscience research will be provided.

This chapter provides an overview of recent advances in nanoparticleliquid crystal dispersions with a particular focus on bulk versus surface effects. Surface effects will include the role of surface functionalization of metal and semiconducting nanoparticles as well as interfacial effects, alignment and anchoring in thin liquid crystal films related to nanoparticle segregation. We will also try to provide a practical guide for experimental work on nanoparticle-liquid crystal dispersions, including tips and best practices for preparing dispersions, detecting and preventing inhomogeneities as well as Dos and Don’ts for handling samples and filling test cells for electrooptic, spectroscopic, and other experiments critical for research in this area.

Research efforts that focus on possible improvement of the physical properties of thermotropic liquid crystals by addition of inorganic 1D nanoparticles (inorganic nanotubes, nanorods, etc.) are reviewed. The emphasis is on modification of electro-optic switching characteristics relevant for display-related applications. In most cases the dopants generate a decrease of the threshold voltage for electrooptic switching and also a decrease of the corresponding switching times. We discuss various possible reasons for the observed effects and point out specific characteristics related to 1D nature of the dopants. We also describe investigations of inclusion of 1D nanoparticles into photo-polymerizable nematic liquid crystalline materials. Photo-polymerization in the aligned nematic phase provides a convenient way to fabricate solid polymer films with strongly anisotropic angular distribution of the nanoparticles. Investigations of structural and optical properties of some selected systems are surveyed.

Long-range ordered structures made of nanoparticles are perspective materials for future optical, electronic and sensing technologies. Conspicuous physicochemical features of nanoparticle aggregates originate from distant-dependent collective interactions, therefore lately a lot of attention was put to the development of assembly strategies allowing control over nanoparticle spatial distribution. In this chapter we will focus on the assembly process based on using thermotropic liquid-crystalline molecules as surface nanoparticle ligands. First, we discuss architectural parameters that inuence structure and thermal properties of the aggregates. Then, we show that this approach enables formation of assemblies with metamaterial characteristic, gives access to dynamic materials with light-, magneto- and thermo-responsive behavior and allows formation of aggregates with unique structures, which all make this strategy an attractive object of research.

Carbon nanotubes constitute a highly anisotropic form of carbon with outstanding mechanical, thermal and electrical properties. Their dispersion and organization are important but challenging and this chapter describes the advantages of using thermotropic liquid crystals as host for nanotube dispersion and ordering. The self organization of LCs is an attractive way to manipulate nanoparticles such as carbon nanotubes or graphene akes. Compared to standard carbon nanotube composites (e.g. with disordered polymer hosts) the introduction of the nanotubes into an LC allows not only the transfer of the outstanding nanotube properties to the macroscopic phase, providing strength and conductivity, but these properties also become anisotropic, following the transfer of the orientational order from the LC to the CNTs…

Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs), as the name indicates, unite the anisotropic order of liquid crystals and rubber elasticity of elastomers into polymer networks. One of the most notable features of LCEs is that properly aligned LCEs exhibit dramatic and reversible shape deformation (e.g. elongation-contraction) in response to various stimuli. In recent years, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were introduced into LCEs. Besides enabling remote and spatial control of the actuation via light and electronic field, CNTs are also utilized to align mesogens as well as to improve the mechanical and electronic property of the composites. Some potential applications of CNT-LCE nanocomposites have been demonstrated. This chapter describes the preparation of CNT dispersed LCEs, new physical properties resulted from CNTs, their actuation and their proposed applications.

This chapter introduces the basic principles of physics of magnetic and ferroelectric nanoparticles suspensions in thermotropic liquid crystals (LCs). It also covers the main features of such suspensions along with the look at the challenges that researchers in the field are facing today. Special attention is paid to understanding of major physical mechanisms responsible for the inuence of nanoparticles on the properties of LCs. In the case of magnetic nanoparticles, their dipole moments are aligned by an external magnetic field that, in turn, results in a reorientation of the LC due to the surface anchoring between the nanoparticles and the LC. This mechanical coupling between the LC and the magnetic particles determines the unique sensitivity of the suspension to magnetic fields. In regard to the ferroelectric particles, their effect on LCs is due to a strong electric field by the permanent electric dipoles of the particles. This field is strong enough to change the orientational ordering of the LC surrounding the particle. In addition, the above-mentioned mechanism of the surface anchoring may also take place. The ongoing scientific and technological problems related to the suspensions are discussed. Among such problems are the stability of the suspensions, selection of the proper surfactants, formation of the particle chains, and the effect of the electric charges on the properties of the ferroelectric liquid crystal suspensions.

In this chapter we discuss the benefits, peculiarities and main challenges related to nanoparticle templating in lyotropic liquid crystals. We first give a brief bird’s-eye view of the field, discussing different nanoparticles as well as different lyotropic hosts that have been explored, but then quickly focus on the dispersion of carbon nanotubes in surfactant-based lyotropic nematic phases. We discuss in some detail how the transfer of orientational order from liquid crystal host to nanoparticle guest can be verified and which degree of ordering can be expected, as well as the importance of choosing the right surfactant and its concentration for the stability of the nanoparticle suspension. We introduce a method for dispersing nanoparticles with an absolute minimum of stabilizing surfactant, based on dispersion below the Krafft temperature, and we discuss the peculiar phenomenon of filament formation in lyotropic nematic phases with a sufficient concentration of well-dispersed carbon nanotubes. Finally, we describe how the total surfactant concentration in micellar nematics can be greatly reduced by combining cat- and anionic surfactants, and we discuss how nanotubes can help in inducing the liquid crystal phase close to the isotropic–nematic boundary.

This chapter concerns the structure and the optical properties of nanoparticle (NP)/liquid crystal (LC) composites in the presence of LC distortion. After a first description of the general behaviour of NPs at the proximity of distorted LC areas, the first section of the chapter discusses the stabilization of the LC phases, characterized by the presence of topological defects in presence of NPs. The assemblies of NPs induced by distorted LC films is addressed in the second section. The last section then extensively develops the structure and optical properties of NP assemblies created within topological defects. Specific localisation and orientations of the NPs will be discussed, but also possible control of the size and shape of the NP assemblies, together with control of the distances between NPs in the assemblies, leading to original optical properties of the composites as far as uorescent or gold NPs are concerned.

We report the in situ creation of growing polymer nanoparticles and resulting polymer networks formed in liquid crystals. Depending on the concentration of monomer, polymerization-induced phase separation proceeds in two distinct regimes. For a high monomer concentration with a good miscibility, phase separation is initiated through the nucleation and growth mechanism in the binodal decomposition regime and rapidly crosses over to the spinodal decomposition process, consequently resulting in interpenetrating polymer networks. For a dilute system, however, the phase separation mainly proceeds and completes in the binodal decomposition regime. The system resembles the aggregation process of colloidal particles. For a dilute system, the reaction kinetics is limited by the reaction between in situ created polymer aggregates and hence the network morphologies are greatly inuenced by the diffusion of reactive growing polymer particles. The thin polymer layers localized at the surface of substrate are frequently observed and can be comprehended by the interfacial adsorption and further cross-linking reaction of in situ created polymer aggregates at the interface. This process provides a direct perception on understanding polymer stabilized liquid crystals accomplished by the interfacial polymer layer formed by polymerization of dilute reactive monomers in liquid crystal (LC) host.

This chapter describes the chemical composition, phase behavior and structure of recently investigated carbon nanotube (CNT) based liquid crystals. Because nanotubes are long and thin rigid cylinders, their phase behavior shares several similarities with many other systems such as rigid polymers and rod-like particle suspensions. CNT liquid crystals are achieved in highly concentrated suspensions comprised of raw or chemically functionalized particles. But extreme aspect ratio, rigidity, high sensitivity to interactions, optical properties and structural features of CNTs make their liquid crystalline phases unique in several ways. In particular, the chapter discusses the importance of the CNT waviness on the phase ordering and the role of excess surfactant or biomolecules used to stabilize the CNTs. The unique resonant Raman scattering of CNT allows original and accurate measurements of order parameters at a micron-scale. Highly oriented nematic tactoids could even be characterized by polarized Raman microscopy. From a more applied point of view, nematic ordering is shown to be a route towards the processing of new materials such as anisotropic conductive films and high strength fibers made of oriented carbon nanotubes. Examples of functional materials and nanocomposites achieved from CNT liquid crystals are given.

The last decade has seen the rise of graphene. Graphene is a single layer of graphite; it can be obtained by direct liquid phase exfoliation of the latter through harsh sonication. This technique presents the disadvantage to produce small graphene flakes (typically in the 0.05 to 0.4 μm² range for the monolayers) and multilayer graphene with uncontrolled thickness distributions. In order to improve the exfoliation process, one has to counter the strong van der Waals interactions between the carbon planes of graphite. This implies to increase the distance between two planes and it can be done, for example, by oxidizing graphite to introduce oxygen species in the graphenic planes. The fabrication of graphite oxide is known for almost 150 years, and it became popular again these last ten years. Generally, the oxidation of graphite is performed following a method described by Hummers in the 1950’s and the material produced by this technique exfoliates quasi-spontaneously into monolayer species called graphene oxide (GO). The highly anisotropic shape of GO (several μm in length and width for a thickness of ca. 1 nm) combined with the presence of oxygenated functions on the sp² carbon structure of graphene lead to the formation of a lyotropic liquid crystalline phase in water. Above a certain concentration of graphene flakes the gain in translational entropy for a long-range ordered phase outweighs the loss in rotational entropy, and the liquid crystal phase then forms. The value of the threshold is affected by the aspect ratio of the graphene flakes but other factors such as the interactions also play a strong role.

Electric field effects on aqueous graphene-oxide (GO) dispersions are reviewed in this chapter. In isotropic and biphasic regimes of GO dispersions, in which the inter-particle friction is low, GO particles sensitively respond to the application of electric field, producing field-induced optical birefringence. The electro-optical sensitivity dramatically decreases as the phase transits to the nematic phase; the increasing inter-particle friction hinders the rotational switching of GO particles. The corresponding Kerr coefficient reaches the maximum near the isotropic to biphasic transition concentration, at which the Kerr coefficient is found be c.a. 1:8 · 10⁻⁵ mV⁻², the highest value ever reported in all Kerr materials. The exceptionally large Kerr effect arises from the Maxwell– Wagner polarization of GO particles with an extremely large aspect ratio and a thick electrical double layer (EDL). The polarization sensitively depends on the ratio of surface and bulk conductivities in dispersions. As a result, low ion concentration in bulk solvent is highly required to achieve a quality electro-optical switching in GO dispersions. Spontaneous vinylogous carboxylic reaction in GO particles produces H⁺ ions, resulting in spontaneous degradation of electro-optical response with time, hence the removal of residual ions by using a centrifuge cleaning process significantly improves the electro-optical sensitivity. GO particle size is another important parameter for the Kerr coefficient and the response time. The best performance is observed in a GO dispersion with c.a. 0.5 μm mean size. Dielectrophoretic migration of GO particles can be also used to manipulate GO particles in solution. Using these unique features of GO dispersions, one can fabricate GO liquid crystal devices similar to conventional liquid crystal displays; the large Kerr effect allows fabricating a low power device working at extremely low electric fields.

We will discuss colloid suspensions of pigments and compare their electro-optic properties with those of traditional dyed low molecular weight liquid crystal systems. There are several potential advantages of colloidal suspensions over low molecular weight liquid crystal systems: a very high contrast because of the high orientational order parameter of suspensions of rod shaped nano-particles, the excellent light fastness of pigments as compared to dyes and high colour saturations resulting from the high loading of the colour stuff. Although a weak ‘single-particle’ electro-optic response can be observed in dilute suspensions, the response is very much enhanced when the concentration of the particles is sufficient to lead to a nematic phase. Excellent stability of suspensions is beneficial for experimental observation and reproducibility, but it is a fundamental necessity for display applications. We therefore discuss a method to achieve long term stability of dispersed pigments and the reasons for its success. Small angle X-ray scattering was used to determine the orientational order parameter of the suspensions as a function of concentration and the dynamic response to an applied electric field. Optical properties were investigated for a wide range of pigment concentrations. Electro-optical phenomena, such as field-induced birefringence and switching, were characterised. In addition, mixtures of pigment suspensions with small amounts of ferrofluids show promise as future magneto-optical materials.

With the strong current trend in nanotechnology to focus on sustainably produced nanomaterials, cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) are emerging as a particularly interesting candidate. They are mechanically strong, optically transparency and birefringent, have low weight and low thermal expansion coefficient. A most desirable feature of CNC is that aqueous suspensions form cholesteric liquid crystal phases already at low concentration, and when dried into thin solid films, the periodicity of the helical structure can be reduced to the range of visible selective reflection, in practice making the film a photonic crystal paper.

We begin the chapter by briefly explaining how CNC is extracted from cellulose-rich bioresources, followed by a summary of the typical characteristics in terms of dimensions and surface charge, and how these depend on the production method. The current understanding of the phase diagram of CNC suspensions is then discussed, from the low-concentration regime around the isotropic-cholesteric transition to the less well understood regime where the system is kinetically arrested in a non-equilibrium state. We discuss the influences on phase behavior and cholesteric pitch of the solvent and its ionic strength. Finally, we discuss the production of photonic crystal films and we give a brief outlook.

The following sections are included:

• Subject index