Tunable Transfer of Molecules between Liquid Crystal Microdroplets and Control of Photonic Crystallinity in Isolated Microdroplets

Abstract

Selective molecular transfer among living cells or organs is involved in all vital processes; however, the artificial molecule transfer technology, an innovative tool in optical devices and materials science, is still at an early stage of development. Here, this paper demonstrates the controlled in situ molecular transfer between the heterogeneous liquid crystal (LC) microdroplets in an LC emulsion. Chiral dopants can be transferred between nematic and cholesteric LC droplets, which are the receiver and supplier of chiral molecules, respectively, and a continuous phase with tunable solubility acts as the switchable transfer channel. The molecular transfer is visually monitored by the topological transition and the change in the photonic crystalline reflection colors of the LC droplets. These enable to continuously record and manipulate the topological evolution and structural color. This technology may be applicable to other systems in optical applications, materials science, and biology.