The curvature of elongated microscopic building blocks plays a crucial role on their self-assembly into orientationally ordered phases. While rod-like molecules form a handful of liquid crystal (LC) phases, curved or banana-shaped molecules show more than fifty phases, with fascinating physical properties, such as chirality or polarity. Despite the fundamental and technological importance of these so-called ‘banana-shaped liquid crystals’, little is known about their microscopic details at the single-molecule level. Curved colloidal liquid crystals—liquid crystals formed by curved colloidal rods—are excellent model systems to optically resolve the structure and dynamics of curved building blocks within these condensed phases. Recent advances in the synthesis of curved rod-like particles have unlocked the potential for studying—at the single-particle level—the intimate relationship between shape and phase symmetry, and even confirmed the stability of elusive LC phases. Further developments in this nascent field promise exciting findings, such as the first observation of the colloidal twist-bend nematic phase or the fabrication of functional materials with curvature-dependent properties. In this Report on Progress, we will highlight recent advances in the synthesis and assembly of curved colloidal liquid crystals and discuss the upcoming challenges and opportunities of this field.

中文翻译：

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来自弯曲胶体棒的液晶：波浪、扭曲等


细长微观构件的曲率对其自组装成定向有序相起着至关重要的作用。棒状分子形成少量液晶 (LC) 相，而弯曲或香蕉形分子则显示出五十多个相，具有令人着迷的物理特性，例如手性或极性。尽管这些所谓的“香蕉形液晶”具有基础和技术重要性，但人们对它们在单分子水平上的微观细节知之甚少。弯曲胶体液晶（由弯曲胶体棒形成的液晶）是出色的模型系统，可以光学解析这些凝聚相内弯曲构建块的结构和动力学。弯曲棒状颗粒合成的最新进展释放了在单颗粒水平上研究形状和相对称性之间的密切关系的潜力，甚至证实了难以捉摸的液晶相的稳定性。这一新兴领域的进一步发展有望带来令人兴奋的发现，例如首次观察到胶体扭转弯曲向列相或具有曲率相关特性的功能材料的制造。在这份进展报告中，我们将重点介绍弯曲胶体液晶合成和组装的最新进展，并讨论该领域即将面临的挑战和机遇。