Jiao Liu, featured ILCS liquid crystal artist, April 2022

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Jiao Liu is currently a PhDstudent at Kent State university under the supervision of Dr. Torsten Hegmann (Advanced Material and Liquid Crystal Institute). Her research work includes the design, synthesis and applications of bent-core liquid crystals. She mainly focuses in the field of Molecular Conformation of Bent-Core Molecules Affected by Chiral Side Chains. She is also interested in the Circularly Polarized Luminescence of bent-core liquid crystal.

Research group website:
https://www.personal.kent.edu/~thegmann/Welcome.html

Contact email:
jliu53(at)kent.edu
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The typical helical nanofilament phase of spherulitic domains with low birefringence is formed upon rapid cooling when heating to isotropic (~ 170℃) then quenching to room temperature. The sample was sandwiched between the untreated glass slides under the cross polarizer.
Jury comment: This image has been selected considering its image quality and because it is representative of a liquid crystal organization of wide current interest, since it corresponds to a type of mesophase with great attractiveness due to its helical character and whose morphology can be modulated by means of thermal treatment, being referent in the framework of complex fluids.