Lyotropic liquid crystals of CdS nanoribbons

Abstract

Herein, we have observed the formation of highly ordered lyotropic liquid crystalline phase of CdS nanoribbons of different length scales. Solvent selectively wets the capping alkyl chains and induces mobility in them, this leads to the formation of the lyotropic liquid crystalline phase of these nanoribbons. We have characterized this self-organization by X-ray diffraction studies, polarized optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and Cryo-SEM techniques. Results indicate that these CdS nanoribbons aggregate in presence of cyclohexane to form rod like (Cds-50 and CdS-60) to rope like (CdS-70) supramolecular structures. These liquid crystals showed the presence of long-range orientational order and positional order. The majority of work on lyotropic liquid crystals has been confined to organic molecules, this study ventures into relatively less explored field of lyotropic phases in inorganic materials.