Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Fleischmann, Eva-Kristina
• Zentel, Rudolf

Titel

Liquid-Crystalline Ordering as a Concept in Materials Science: From Semiconductors to Stimuli-Responsive Devices

Ist Teil von

• Angewandte Chemie (International ed.), 2013-08, Vol.52 (34), p.8810-8827

Auflage

International ed. in English

Ort / Verlag

Weinheim: WILEY-VCH Verlag

Erscheinungsjahr

2013

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• While the unique optical properties of liquid crystals (LCs) are already well exploited for flat‐panel displays, their intrinsic ability to self‐organize into ordered mesophases, which are intermediate states between crystal and liquid, gives rise to a broad variety of additional applications. The high degree of molecular order, the possibility for large scale orientation, and the structural motif of the aromatic subunits recommend liquid‐crystalline materials as organic semiconductors, which are solvent‐processable and can easily be deposited on a substrate. The anisotropy of liquid crystals can further cause a stimuli‐responsive macroscopic shape change of cross‐linked polymer networks, which act as reversibly contracting artificial muscles. After illustrating the concept of liquid‐crystalline order in this Review, emphasis will be placed on synthetic strategies for novel classes of LC materials, and the design and fabrication of active devices. Activity from order: Liquid‐crystalline materials (see picture; blue) are formed from anisotropic molecules. They are used in liquid‐crystal displays (LCDs), the prototype of flat‐panel displays. Moreover, the combination of order and mobility in these phases allows the realization of mechanical actuators (green) or the improvement of materials for organic electronics (red).