ArticleNature communications2024
Flow-induced periodic chiral structures in an achiral nematic liquid crystal.
Article in Nature communications, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Boron nitride nanotube fibers with over 1 GPa strength and 1000 °C stability for exceptional neutron shielding textiles.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Crystallization-driven template autocatalysis induces mirror symmetry breaking and amplification.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Confinement-induced chirality in phase-separated achiral polymer solutions.Science advances · 2025Article
- Lyotropic Liquid Crystal Mediated Assembly of Donor Polymers Enhances Efficiency and Stability of Blade-Coated Organic Solar Cells.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Supramolecular chirality typically originates from either chiral molecular building blocks or external chiral stimuli. Generating chirality in achiral systems in the absence of a chiral input, however, is non-trivial and necessitates spontaneous mirror symmetry breaking. Achiral nematic lyotropic chromonic liquid crystals have been reported to break mirror symmetry under strong surface or geometric constraints. Here we describe a previously unrecognised mechanism for creating chiral structures by subjecting the material to a pressure-driven flow in a microfluidic cell. The chirality arises from a periodic double-twist configuration of the liquid crystal and manifests as a striking stripe pattern. We show that the mirror symmetry breaking is triggered at regions of flow-induced biaxial-splay configurations of the director field, which are unstable to small perturbations and evolve into lower energy structures. The simplicity of this unique pathway to mirror symmetry breaking can shed light on the requirements for forming macroscopic chiral structures.
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Registered trials
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