Colluding with colloids: Scientists make liquid crystal discoveryDecember 18, 2006What do milk, paint, ink and liquid crystals have in common? Colloids. Findings of Kent State University scientists indicate that manipulating the size of colloids, micron-sized or nanometer-sized particles, can produce huge changes in the material properties of liquid crystals. In a recently published article in the scholarly journal Physical Review Letters, the scientists illustrate that when the concentration and size of the colloids and liquid crystals are properly tuned, the systems formed promise a new technique for synthesizing liquid crystals with specific molecular properties. The ferroelectric nanoparticles have a significant impact on the material properties of the liquid crystal host; meanwhile they are stable in the liquid crystals and invisible to naked eye. Manipulation of these systems also leads to reduction in the amount of power required to run liquid crystal displays, such as computer screens, and could result in creation of a range of different liquid crystal materials for a wide variety of applications. Kent State University |
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| Related Liquid Crystal Current Events and Liquid Crystal News Articles Kent State Professors Help Break Tetrahedra Packing Record Two Kent State University professors are part of a team of researchers who recently uncovered a way to pack tetrahedra, considered to be the simplest shaped regular solids with its four triangular sides, more densely than ever before. What scientists know about jewel beetle shimmer "Jewel beetles" are widely known for their glossy external skeletons that appear to change colors as the angle of view changes. University of Miami engineer designs stretchable electronics with a twist Jizhou Song, a professor in the University of Miami College of Engineering and his collaborators Professor John Rogers, at the University of Illinois and Professor Yonggang Huang, at Northwestern University have developed a new design for stretchable electronics that can be wrapped around complex shapes, without a reduction in electronic function. Potent greenhouse gas more prevalent in atmosphere than previously assumed A powerful greenhouse gas is at least four times more prevalent in the atmosphere than previously estimated, according to a team of researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. Three-dimensional nanoimaging process provides detailed look at physical properties of liquid crystals Charles Rosenblatt, professor of physics and macromolecular science at Case Western Reserve University, and his research group have developed a method of 3D optical imaging of anisotropic fluids such liquid crystals, with volumetric resolution one thousand times smaller than existing techniques. Extreme nature helps scientists design nano materials Scientists are using designs in nature from extreme environments to overcome the challenges of producing materials on the nanometre scale. Flexi display technology is now Rigid television screens, bulky laptops and still image posters are to be a thing of the past as new research, published today, Thursday, 2 October, in the New Journal of Physics, heralds the beginning of a technological revolution for screen displays. Community-based behavior change management cuts neonatal mortality in half A community-based program that reinforces basic childbirth and newborn care practices can reduce a baby's risk of death within the first month of life by as much as 54 percent, according to a study in rural India led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in collaboration with CSM Medical University in Lucknow, India. Toward plastic spin transistors University of Utah physicists successfully controlled an electrical current using the "spin" within electrons - a step toward building an organic "spin transistor": a plastic semiconductor switch for future ultrafast computers and electronics. Research helps understand factors that influence efficiency of organic-based devices Organic-based devices, such as organic light-emitting diodes, require a transparent conductive layer with a high work function, meaning it promotes injection of electron holes into an organic layer to produce more light. More Liquid Crystal Current Events and Liquid Crystal News Articles |
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