Pattern Formation and Defects in Liquid Crystals

A special issue of Crystals (ISSN 2073-4352). This special issue belongs to the section "Liquid Crystals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2020) | Viewed by 289

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Defects and patterns that spontaneously form in liquid crystals were essential for the discovery of these fascinating materials and provide with a direct probe into the underlying molecular order.  Their complexity has inspired scientists for decades and, in the past few year, they have been recognized as a promising tool for the development of functional materials.

We invite investigators to submit papers that focus on the generation and dynamics of defects or patterns in liquid crystals, either from an experimental, theoretical, or numerical perspective. The focus may be application-oriented or basic science, and the reported systems may be in equilibrium or non-equilibrium. Materials may be thermotropic, lyotropic, colloidal, or even biomaterials, as long as they feature long-range orientational order that allows to define defects and patterns.

 Suggested potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Liquid crystal patterns and defect arrays for optical, sensor, or other applications.
  • Defects in the context of colloids dispersed in liquid crystals. Defects may be originated by the dispersed colloids or the latter may be self-assembled on previously existing defects. This can include soliton defects that may behave as quasi-particles. Assemblies may be static or dynamic.
  • Pattern formation and defects in suspended or supported liquid crystal films. This includes ordered Langmuir Monolayers, liquid crystal shells, and biomembranes.
  • Pattern formation and defects in bulk liquid crystal phases, both thermotropic and lyotropic. This can include recent 3D visualization techniques of defect structure.
  • Dynamic pattern formation and moving defects in liquid crystals. This can include recent developments in active soft materials.
  • Pattern formation and defect generation or control by means of electromagnetic or flow fields.  

Dr. Jordi Ignés-Mullol
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Crystals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Liquid crystals 
  • Topological defects 
  • Colloids in liquid crystals
  • Defect dynamics 
  • Metamaterials

Published Papers

There is no accepted submissions to this special issue at this moment.
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