Development of Biomineral-Based Organic/Inorganic Hybrid Liquid-Crystalline Materials

Abstract

We here report the development of organic/inorganic hybrid liquid-crystalline (LC) materials consisting of a hydroxyapatite (HAP)/poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) nanorod and photoresponsive dendritic forklike mesogens. New forklike mesogens containing three azobenzene moieties are designed and synthesized for the surface modification of the HAP/PAA nanorod with these molecules. The HAP/PAA nanorod modified with the forklike mesogens exhibits thermotropic LC phases and photoresponsive properties in the solvent-free states. The biomineral-based photoresponsive organic/inorganic colloidal liquid crystals may have potential for the development of new photofunctional sustainable materials.