Reconfigurable Knots and Links in Chiral Nematic Colloids

Colloidal particles inside a liquid crystalline solvent can be manipulated to create knots of arbitrary shape and complexity. Tying knots and linking microscopic loops of polymers, macromolecules, or defect lines in complex materials is a challenging task for material scientists. We demonstrate the knotting of microscopic topological defect lines in chiral nematic liquid-crystal colloids into knots and links of arbitrary complexity by using laser tweezers as a micromanipulation tool. All knots and links with up to six crossings, including the Hopf link, the Star of David, and the Borromean rings, are demonstrated, stabilizing colloidal particles into an unusual soft matter. The knots in chiral nematic colloids are classified by the quantized self-linking number, a direct measure of the geometric, or Berry’s, phase. Forming arbitrary microscopic knots and links in chiral nematic colloids is a demonstration of how relevant the topology can be for the material engineering of soft matter.

• Publication year

  2011

• Venue

  Science

• Publication date

  2011-07-01

• Fields of study

  Materials Science, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1126/science.1205705arXiv 1107.1619PMID 21719671
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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