Optimizing liquid crystalline properties for bio-sensing at aqueous interfaces

Recent studies show that surfactant or phospholipid assemblies can be monitored at interfaces between aqueous solutions and thermotropic liquid crystals. The capability of these liquid crystals to change birefringence with the reordering induced by the decorated surface allows to study and characterize dynamical phenomena happening at the interfaces. In this work we tune the surface anchoring and the viscoelastic properties of the liquid crystal mesogens in order to increase sensitivity and optimize the response to events at the surface.