1. Investigation of Potential of
Blue Phase Liquid Crystals for
Functional Materials
William Guy
Mentors: Emre Bukusoglu and Xiaoguang Wang
PI: Prof. Nicholas L. Abbott

2. Background
 Intermediate Phase of chiral LCs between their
cholesteric phase and isotropic phase
BPII BPI
50 µm 50 µm
BPII BPI
10 µm-thick film of 35 wt% S-811/MLC2142 on
glass substrate exposed to air.
λ= Wavelength of Reflected Light
n = Refractive Index
a = Lattice Parameter
h,l,k = Miller Indices

3. Motivation
 Investigation of blue phases for use for materials
 Sensors
 Templated Materials
 To develop an experimental system to study the underlying phenomena
leading to a change in the optical appearance of the BP droplets upon
addition amphiphilic molecules.
LC response to lipids (1)
Scale bars: 5 µm
LC templated particle synthesis (2);
Scale bars: 5 µm

4. Goals for this Semester
 Develop a suitable experimental procedure to study
consistently stable blue phases
 Glass: Bare, PVA, DMOAP
 Solution: Pure water, PBS
 Grid:
 75 mesh 10 µm
 400 mesh 10 µm
 75 mesh 40 µm
 Filling: Overfill, Normal
 Study effects of common simple adsorbates on the
appearance of blue phases

5. 75 mesh, 10 µm thick
1000 um
PVA
No Temp Cycle
Cholesteric
DMOAP
No Temp Cycle
Cholesteric
Bare
After Temp Cycle
Cholesteric
Development of Procedure
Varied type of glass during development of procedure; Bare glass showed dewetting in aqueous
environment; PVA prevented a flat film of LC from forming; DMOAP was determined to be best
Varied grid size by
which to study BP film;
chose 75 mesh in order
to observe domains
more easily.
400 mesh, 10 µm thick
1000 um 1000 um

6. Phase Transitions (Cooling)
40 um-thick 75 mesh TEM grids; PBS solution, pH=7.4;
35wt% S811/MLC2142
50.1C
BPI
53.4C
Transition
Iso to BPII
52.6C,
Transition
BPII to BPI
46C
BPI
45.2C
BPI
42.6C
Transition
BPI to cholesteric

7. Effects of Additives: SDS
40um,75 mesh TEM grids, 1mM SDS in PBS solution, pH=7.4,
35wt% chiral dopant LC
53.4C
Transition
Isotropic to BPI/BPII
51.2C
BPI
47.3C
BPI
46.3C
BPI
44.8C
BPI
1000 um1000 um
1000 um
1000 um 1000 um
43.2C
Transition
BPI to cholesteric

8. Effects of Additives
No additives 45.2C, 1 mM SDS, 45.5C
1000 um1000 um
SDS aligned [110] planes
parallel to the interface and
stabilized the lattice size BPI.

9. Effects of Additives, SDS
40um,75 mesh TEM grid, 1mM SDS in PBS solution, pH=7.4,
35wt% chiral dopant LC, 48°C
Prior to SDS
1000 µm 1000 µm

10. Effects of Additives, SDS
40um,75 mesh TEM grid, 1mM SDS in PBS solution, pH=7.4,
35wt% chiral dopant LC, 48°C
Prior to SDS After SDS
+0mins
1000 µm
1000 µm

11. Effects of Additives, SDS
40um,75 mesh TEM grid, 1mM SDS in PBS solution, pH=7.4,
35wt% chiral dopant LC, 48°C
Prior to SDS After SDS
+0mins
After SDS
+3mins
1000 µm
1000 µm 1000 µm

12. Effects of Additives, SDS
40um,75 mesh TEM grid, 1mM SDS in PBS solution, pH=7.4,
35wt% chiral dopant LC, 48°C
Prior to SDS After SDS
+0mins
After SDS
+3mins
After SDS
+9mins
1000 µm
1000 µm 1000 µm
1000 µm

13. Effects of Additives, SDS
40um,75 mesh TEM grid, 1mM SDS in PBS solution, pH=7.4,
35wt% chiral dopant LC, 48°C
Prior to SDS After SDS
+0mins
After SDS
+3mins
After SDS
+9mins
After SDS
+14mins
1000 µm
1000 µm 1000 µm
1000 µm 1000 µm

14. Effects of Additives, SDS
40um,75 mesh TEM grid, 1mM SDS in PBS solution, pH=7.4,
35wt% chiral dopant LC, 48°C
Prior to SDS After SDS
+0mins
After SDS
+3mins
After SDS
+9mins
After SDS
+14mins
1000 µm
1000 µm 1000 µm
1000 µm 1000 µm
After SDS
+22mins
1000 µm

15. Effects of Additives, SDS
40um,75 mesh TEM grid, 1mM SDS in PBS solution, pH=7.4,
35wt% chiral dopant LC, 48°C
Prior to SDS After SDS
+0mins
After SDS
+3mins
After SDS
+9mins
After SDS
+14mins
After SDS
+22mins
1000 µm
1000 µm 1000 µm
1000 µm 1000 µm 1000 µm

16. Stabilization
 The free energy of a BP can be described as (defect
theory)(1):
 The free energy of a BP in the presence of amphiphiles
can be described as:
 The presence of SDS changes the Fcore, Fint, and Fsa
leading to a stabilization in the BP lattice size with
respect to temperature.
Elastic Surface Core Interfacial
Elastic Surface Core Interfacial Self Assembly
(1) Kikuchi, H. et al. Nature Materials, 1, 2002, 64 - 68.

17. Effects of Additives
No additives 45.2C, 1 mM SDS, 45.5C 0.1 wt% PVA, 46.5C
1000 um1000 um 1000 um
SDS aligned [110] planes
parallel to the interface and
stabilized the lattice size BPI.
PVA led to a distribution of
different orientations of BPI
lattice with respect to the
interface.

18. Conclusion
 Evidence that SDS is going into the bulk
 With the system developed in this study, we were able
to demonstrate the dynamics of lattice size shrinkage
and therefore response to exposure to amphiphiles.
 This possible entrance into the bulk would influence the
lattice size that leads to a stabilization as function of
temperatures

19. 1. Lin, H.; Miller, D.S; Bertics, P.J.; Murphy, C.J.; de Pablo, J.J.;
Abbott, N.L.; Science Mag, 2011, 332, 6035, 1297-1300
2. Mondiot, F.; Wang, X; de Pablo, J.J.; Abbott, N.; JACS, 2013,
135, 9972-8875
3. Bukusoglu,E; Wang,X; Martinez-Gonzales, J; de Pablo, J.J.;
Abbott, N.L.; Adv. Mater., 2015, 27, 6892-6898
4. Kikuchi, H. et al. Nature Materials, 1, 2002, 64 - 68
References