TY - JOUR AU - Cao, Min AU - Liu, Senping AU - Zhu, Qingli AU - Wang, Ya AU - Ma, Jingyu AU - Li, Zeshen AU - Chang, Dan AU - Zhu, Enhui AU - Ming, Xin AU - Liu, Yingjun AU - Jiang, Yanqiu AU - Xu, Zhen AU - Gao, Chao PY - 2022/09/19 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Monodomain Liquid Crystals of Two-Dimensional Sheets by Boundary-Free Sheargraphy JF - Nano-Micro Letters JA - Nano-Micro Lett VL - 14 IS - SE - Articles DO - 10.1007/s40820-022-00925-2 UR - https://nmlett.org/index.php/nml/article/view/1188 SP - 192 AB - <p>Eliminating topological defects to achieve monodomain liquid crystals is highly significant for the fundamental studies of soft matter and building long-range ordered materials. However, liquid crystals are metastable and sensitive to external stimuli, such as flow, confinement, and electromagnetic fields, which cause their intrinsic polycrystallinity and topological defects. Here, we achieve the monodomain liquid crystals of graphene oxide over 30 cm through boundary-free sheargraphy. The obtained monodomain liquid crystals exhibit large-area uniform alignment of sheets, which has the same optical polarized angle and intensity. The monodomain liquid crystals provide bidirectionally ordered skeletons, which can be applied as lightweight thermal management materials with bidirectionally high thermal and electrical conductivity. Furthermore, we extend the controllable topology of two-dimensional colloids by introducing singularities and disclinations in monodomain liquid crystals. Topological structures with defect strength from − 2 to + 2 were realized. This work provides a facile methodology to study the structural order of soft matter at a macroscopic level, facilitating the fabrication of metamaterials with tunable and highly anisotropic architectures.</p><p>Highlights:</p><p>1 Monodomain liquid crystals of graphene oxide over 30 cm is realized by boundary-free sheargraphy.<br>2 The achieved monodomain liquid crystals have bidirectional sheet ordering, exhibiting unique optical, rheological, and conductive properties.<br>3 Boundary-free sheargraphy extends to freely design delicate topology of two-dimensional colloids, including topological structures with defect strength from − 2 to + 2 and complex polydomain.</p> ER -