Liquid crystals formed by giant graphene oxide flakes with an aspect ratio (difference between length of two dimensions) above 10,000 have been observed by scientists in the US. This is the highest aspect ratio so far, they say, and it affects the liquid crystal’s properties.
As the concentration of the flakes increased, they underwent transitions from an isotropic dispersion to a biphasic system and then to a discotic nematic liquid crystal. The gel-like liquid has an unusually defect-free uniform director alignment over hundreds of micrometres.
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Liquid crystals of aqueous, giant graphene oxide flakes
Budhadipta Dan, Natnael Behabtu, Angel Martinez, Julian S. Evans, Dmitry V. Kosynkin, James M. Tour, Matteo Pasquali and Ivan I. Smalyukh
Soft Matter, 2011, 7, 11154-11159
DOI: 10.1039/C1SM06418E
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