Liquid crystal-mediated growth and assembly of polymer colloids

Templating the director field of liquid crystals (LCs) has been shown to organize colloids into a variety of ordered assemblies, including chain-like structures and hexagonal lattices. Most systems produce LC-mediated assemblies by pre-mixing colloids in host mesogens or by depositing colloids at LC interfaces. In our work, we demonstrate simultaneous growth and assembly of polymer colloids at LC-air interfaces. The polymer colloids are produced by polymerization of acrylate monomer mixed in non-reactive liquid crystal mesogens. Colloids spontaneously form ordered assemblies at the LC-air interface. Systematic experiments varying the reaction time were conducted to monitor the nucleation, growth, and assembly. Simultaneous colloid growth and assembly in LCs can open new opportunities to utilize LC-templated polymerization for the preparation of large-scale assemblies or continuous network structures.