Qing Zhang, featured ILCS liquid crystal artist, July 2022

Lab homepage: https://www.mitfluidslab.com/
Personal homepage: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Qing-Zhang-51
Contact email:
zqing(at)mit.edu

Jury comment: This contribution shows a special view of a drop of an isotropic aqueous liquid crystal on an untreated surface, where the suspended liquid crystal aggregates are transported to the drop perimeter by an evaporation-driven capillary flow. Attractively it evidences the ability of a disodium cromoglycate solution to form different liquid crystal phases from the drop edge to the center: columnar, nematic, and isotropic. It is a suggestive and new view of the aesthetic beauty always highlighted by liquid crystals.