Electrically and Optically Tunable Plasmonic Guest–Host Liquid Crystals with Long-Range Ordered Nanoparticles
- 5 June 2014
- journal article
- Published by American Chemical Society (ACS) in Nano Letters
- Vol. 14 (7), 4071-4077
- https://doi.org/10.1021/nl501581y
Abstract
Practical guest-host devices in which dichroic dye molecules follow electrical switching of a liquid crystal host remain elusive for decades despite promising efficient displays and emergent applications such as smart windows. This is mainly because of poor stability, surface precipitation, and limited means for property engineering of the dyes. To overcome these challenges, we develop plasmonic metal nanoparticle analogues of dichroic guest-host liquid crystals. Nematic dispersions of aligned anisotropic gold nanoparticles are obtained by polymer passivation of their surfaces to impose weak tangential boundary conditions for orientation of anisotropic host molecules. Control of the ensuing surface interactions leads to long-range ordered colloidal dispersions, allowing for collective optical and electrical switching of rod- and platelet-like nanoparticles. This facile control of mesostructured plasmonic medium's optical properties in visible and infrared spectral ranges is of interest for many applications.Keywords
Funding Information
- U.S. Department of Energy (ER46921)
This publication has 30 references indexed in Scilit:
- Transparent displays enabled by resonant nanoparticle scatteringNature Communications, 2014
- Ferromagnetism in suspensions of magnetic platelets in liquid crystalNature, 2013
- Topological colloidsNature, 2012
- Plasmonic Complex Fluids of Nematiclike and Helicoidal Self-Assemblies of Gold Nanorods with a Negative Order ParameterPhysical Review Letters, 2012
- Peak External Photocurrent Quantum Efficiency Exceeding 100% via MEG in a Quantum Dot Solar CellScience, 2011
- A Self-Quenched Defect Glass in a Colloid-Nematic Liquid Crystal CompositeScience, 2011
- Shape-Controlled Colloidal Interactions in Nematic Liquid CrystalsScience, 2009
- Self-Assembly at All ScalesScience, 2002
- Three-dimensional imaging of orientational order by fluorescence confocal polarizing microscopyChemical Physics Letters, 2001
- Novel Colloidal Interactions in Anisotropic FluidsScience, 1997