DOI: 10.1002/marc.70465 ISSN: 1022-1336
Micrometric Spherical Confinement of a Luminescent Lyotropic Liquid Crystal Gel
Erica Fuoco, Lorenza Spina, Federica Ciuchi, Noemi Baldino, Olga Mileti, Francesca Romana Lupi, Iolinda Aiello, Nicolas Godbert, Eugenia Giorno, Maria Penelope De SantoABSTRACT
Micro‐confinement of a filamentous hydrogel has been obtained in a fluid matrix. Microspheres are prepared emulsifying a one‐component luminescent lyotropic liquid crystal gel based on an Ir(III) complex in an immiscible polymeric matrix. The distribution of filaments inside microspheres, as a function of the Ir(III) complex concentration in water, and their degree of entanglement changes the interface and viscoelastic properties. By combining lyotropic liquid crystal gels and emulsions, this study introduces a new soft hybrid system and offers new possibilities of exploring functional water‐based liquid crystalline materials.