Targeting and Triggering using Liquid Crystals: Reactive Chemical Systems
Abstract
Supramolecular assemblies offer exciting opportunities for amplification of targeted molecular-level transformations into functional outcomes (e.g., release of an agent or a change in a mechanical or optical property).The major goal of this project is to use thermotropic liquid crystals as an important and representative class of supramolecular assemblies to develop general principles by which targeted interfacial molecular events can trigger changes in molecular organization on optical scales. The approach builds from recent observations by the PI that ionic phenomena, including specific ion effects, and the chirality of biological adsorbates can influence the internal configurations of micrometer-sized liquid crystalline droplets that are dispersed in water. These observations suggest a variety of unexplored mechanisms by which the presence and transformation of adsorbates at the interfaces of liquid crystals can trigger changes in ordering that are easily transduced at the micrometer scale. The proposal is organized into two parts. First, a series of fundamental physicochemical investigations will be conducted to elucidate the basic mechanisms by which ion concentration, ion type and adsorbate chirality impact interfacial phenomena involving micrometer-sized droplets of liquid crystals. Second, these mechanisms of triggering liquid crystalline droplets will be explored in the context of droplets decorated with amphiphiles, polyelectrolytes and oligopeptides. This second thrust includes studies of amphiphilic block copolymers designed with mesogenic and oligopeptide side-chains that can be processed by enzymes to explore translation of the fundamental physicochemical phenomena described in the first part of the proposal into initial designs of multifunctional amphiphiles for targeting and triggering using liquid crystals.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 19, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1054383
Entities
People
- Nicholas L Abbott
Organizations
- University of Wisconsin–Madison