Reversible On-Off of Chirality and Anisotropy in Patterned Coexistence of Achiral-Anisotropic and Chiral-Isotropic Soft Materials

Achieving a coexistence of two or multiple phases of soft matters via a delicate trade-off of free energy and long-range order with one another has been inspiring abundant interest on fundamental sciences and engineering. In this work, a stable coexistence of the optically achiral-anisotropic liquid crystalline nematic phase and the optically chiral-isotropic liquid crystalline blue phase is proposed and demonstrated, with their distribution tailored in a micro-pattern by the developed localized micro-regional polymer templating technique. Such a stable patterned coexistence of the two different phases with a distinct molecular arrangement, optical chirality, and anisotropy is achieved depending on a delicate matching of the elastic energy on the interface between liquid crystals and polymer networks. In contrast to the majority of soft coexistence systems, a specific dynamic and reversible on-off response of chirality and anisotropy is observed in such a system driven by an electric field. The structure of patterned coexistence system in the presence and absence of external stimulation is explored by microscopy and optical technique, and furthermore, the prospective photonic applications are demonstrated. This investigation indicates another category of functional soft material with fantastic adaptive characteristics for application in optics, electronics, interface physics, and chemistry.