title: Twofold light and magnetic responsive behavior in nanoparticle-lyotropic liquid crystal systems.
abstract: We demonstrate the dual magnetic and light responsive nature of hybrid mesophases constituted by Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles dispersed in lipid-based lyotropic liquid crystals (LC). When subjected to an external magnetic field in the mesophase isotropic state, the nanoparticles aggregate and orient along the magnetic field direction, and upon cooling the system through the disorder-order transition the aggregates drive the orientation of the mesophase via heterogeneous nucleation; furthermore, order-disorder transitions in the lipidic mesophase can be triggered by Fe(3)O(4)-induced photothermal effect under visible light exposure. Both the orientational order and the photothermal effect of the hybrid mesophase can be tuned by the nanoparticle content, offering a general route for controlled assembly of complex fluids with combined magnetic and light responsiveness.
authors.affiliation: Food and Soft Materials Science, Department of Health Science and Technology, ETH Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jijo J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Vallooran
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Handschin
authors.forename: Sreenath
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bolisetty
authors.forename: Raffaele
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mezzenga
mesh_terms: D008027:Light; D050866:Liquid Crystals / Q000737:chemistry*; D060328:Magnetic Phenomena; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D053838:Scattering, Small Angle; D013696:Temperature; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction