Magnetic and transparent composites by linking liquid crystals to ferrite nanoparticles through covalent networks

The fabrication of transparent flexible, and optically homogeneous magnetic composites containing ferrite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles liquid crystals (LCs), and siloxane backbones is reported. The transparent magnets are achieved by covalently bonding LCs to the siloxane backbones and then linking them to dopamine-functionalized ferrite nanocrystals. They exhibit simultaneous high transparency and strong magnetic properties. A remarkable feature of these films is that the surface morphology of the LC-attached ferrite films can be tuned by an external magnetic field demonstrating a striped surface in the direction of the field. We show that the LC-attached film can act as alignment layer to orient LCs, enabling the development of LC alignment surfaces on the basis of these nanomagnet-LC polymer composites.