A mixture of cholesteric liquid crystal droplets of different pitches can form complex optical signatures, especially when the droplets are dried and some collapse during the drying process. Here, droplets from mixtures of different weight percentages of CB15 in E7 are prepared in PVA solution, mixed together, pipetted onto a glass slide, and allowed to dry under ambient conditions.

The liquid crystal mixtures were varying compositions of CB15 in E7 to produce different pitches (30%, 35%, and 38% CB15) with correspondingly different reflected colors. Lawrence (Larry) Honaker prepared emulsions of droplets of each LC in a dilute aqueous solution of 0.2% w/w poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), then mixed the three emulsions together and pipetted a droplet of emulsion onto a clean glass slide which was left to dry under ambient conditions. Some droplets splashed and collapsed during the drying process, while others survived.