Mineral liquid crystals

This review describes recent developments in the field of liquid-crystal line suspensions of mineral nanoparticles. New families of chemical compounds have been investigated in the last few years. The most common mesophases (nematic, lamellar and columnar) have now been discovered in dispersions of disc-like and rod-like nanoparticles. New research thrusts presently focus on more subtle thermodynamic effects such as those of polydispersity and gravity. The specific physical properties brought by the mineral building blocks to the liquidcrystalline phases are now being examined. Mesomorphic ordering of the nanoparticles is increasingly used in materials science for templating and for preparing composites. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.