Magnetic tilting in nematic liquid crystals driven by self-assembly

Abstract

Self-assembly is one of the crucial mechanisms allowing the design multifunctional materials. Soft hybrid materials contain components of different natures and exhibit competitive interactions which drive self-organization into structures of a particular function. Here 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 magnetic nanoparticles and the anisotropic molecular interactions in a liquid crystal matrix is demonstrated.