Jun Yoshida, featured ILCC liquid crystal artist, Augst 2017

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Jun Yoshida is a Junior Associate Professor of Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Kitasato University in Japan. He received his BS and MS degrees in earth-physics at University of Tokyo, and PhD in chemistry at University of Tokyo. After working as a researcher at Kao Corporation, He began his academic career as an Assistant Professor at Kitasato University 2010. From 2014 to 2015, he stayed at Vance Williams group (Simon Fraser University) as a visiting researcher. From 2016, he is working at Kitasato University as a Junior Associate Professor. His research interests include soft matters formed by coordination bonds, coordination polymers, their microscopic/macroscopic ordering, and chiral properties. He is currently working on the development of chiral metallomesogens. His list of publications is available at the website. His e-mail address is yoshidaj [at] kitasato-u.ac.jp
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The chiral nematic prepared by mixing enantiomeric ruthenium complexes with 5CB was observed at room temperature. The sample was put on a glass slide without cover glass under crossed polarizers. The texture that looks like the assembly of clock-hands was taken in collaboration with Mr. Shuhei Tamura. The width of the figure is about 700 microns. The details are available in Chem. Commun., 2017, 53, 5103-5106.
Jury comment: It looks like bushes of hemp, but this is a very curious clock-like domains appearing in a cholesteric mixture of 5CB and a metal complex.