Functional Lyotropic Liquid CrystalMaterials - Liquid Crystalline Functional Assemblies and Their Supramolecular Structures - page 182

Fig. 2 Proposed structures of some “intermediate” LLC phases. Reproduced with permis-
sion from [7]. © 2005 by Taylor and Francis

Fig. 3 Schematic representation of lyotropic nematic phases with disk-like (N L )androd-
like (N C ) micellar aggregates. Partially reproduced with permission from [9]. © 1988 by

Wiley-VCH

LCs typically have an aromatic organic core with ionic groups lining the
periphery, giving them a disk- or plank-like shape (e.g., ionic organic dye
molecules). They are technically classified as LLCs because they can self-
assemble into ordered phases in the presence of water. However, unlike tra-
ditional amphiphiles, lyotropic chromonic LCs are rigid rather than flexible,
and their hydrophobic components are based on aromatic units rather than
aliphatic chains. Unlike traditional amphiphilic LCs, they self-organize in so-