title: Graphene oxide liquid crystals for reflective displays without polarizing optics.
abstract: The recent emergence of liquid crystals of atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) materials not only has allowed us to explore novel phenomena of macroscopically aligned 2D nanomaterials but also has provided a route toward their controlled assembly into three-dimensional functional macrostructures. Using flow-induced mechanical alignment, we prepared flakes of graphene oxide (GO) in different orientational orders and demonstrated that GO liquid crystals (LC) can be used as rewritable media for reflective displays without polarizing optics. With a wire or stick as a pen, we can make the surface of GO LC reflective and bright, and we can then manually draw lines, curves, and any patterns with dark appearance. The contrast between bright and dark features is due to anisotropic optical responses of ordered GO flakes. Since optical anisotropy is an intrinsic property of 2D structures, our observations and demonstration represent one of many potential applications of macroscopically aligned 2D nanomaterials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thermal Science & Energy Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, China.
authors.forename: Liqun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shuai
authors.forename: Zhuan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Xufeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Yanan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Zhihua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Haiyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Zhaoping
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Zhengdong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Jiming
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bao