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Topologically reconfigurable nematic emulsions

Saikat Das,Seyednejad Seyed Reza,S. C̆opar,Surajit Dhara

Published 2025 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

ABSTRACT

Significance Liquid crystal emulsions display a variety of stable topological defects and promise a wealth of applications ranging from photonics to sensing and beyond. Stabilization of isotropic droplets usually needs emulsifying agents to prompt the dispersion of droplets within the nematic host and to achieve desired anchoring. Here we demonstrate a nematic emulsion without the use of surfactants, with surface molecular alignment reversibly reconfigurable via temperature control. The droplets can be fused with regular surfactant-based emulsion droplets to form compound droplets which act as versatile building blocks. We present protocols for reshaping and designing hierarchical compound droplets with complex topological structures. Our results offer perspectives on topologically reconfigurable droplets with reversibly tunable surface anchoring and diverse morphologies for engineered emulsions.

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