Nonreciprocal chirality conversion in spatiotemporal evolutions of nematic colloidal entanglement

In soft matter systems, there is a wealth of topological phenomena, such as singular disclination lines and nonsingular defects of skyrmions and hopfions. In a liquid crystal (LC), the topological nature of disclination lines and colloids induces chiral colloidal entanglements. How the chirality of the entanglements is deterministically created and how the chirality conversion is actuated in the disclinations with Möbius strip topology have never been explored. Here, we create colloidal entanglements with designed chirality in the nematic disclination loops with Möbius topology. An irreversible process of chirality change is revealed if we move the colloidal entanglement along the loops. A nonreciprocal chirality conversion in the dynamical colloidal entanglements is demonstrated, which is induced by the interplay between topological profiles and the geometrical curvature of the disclination loop. Colloidal entanglements in opposite chirality are templated in arbitrary shapes of disclination lines. This work opens opportunities to design smart colloidal materials.

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Publication Details

Journal
Science Advances
Published
2025-02-21
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ads7281
Citations
6
Primary Topic
Liquid Crystal Research Advancements
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.56
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article

Nonreciprocal chirality conversion in spatiotemporal evolutions of nematic colloidal entanglement

Qingtian Shi, Jinghua Jiang, Zhawure Asilehan, Chenhui Peng et al.
6 citations
Science Advances
Liquid Crystal Research Advancements
2.56
article

Nonreciprocal chirality conversion in spatiotemporal evolutions of nematic colloidal entanglement

Qingtian Shi, Jinghua Jiang, Zhawure Asilehan, Chenhui Peng, Rui Zhang, Zijun Chen, Wentao Tang, Jing Zhang, Fernando Vergara
article en
6 citations

Abstract

In soft matter systems, there is a wealth of topological phenomena, such as singular disclination lines and nonsingular defects of skyrmions and hopfions. In a liquid crystal (LC), the topological nature of disclination lines and colloids induces chiral colloidal entanglements. How the chirality of the entanglements is deterministically created and how the chirality conversion is actuated in the disclinations with Möbius strip topology have never been explored. Here, we create colloidal entanglements with designed chirality in the nematic disclination loops with Möbius topology. An irreversible process of chirality change is revealed if we move the colloidal entanglement along the loops. A nonreciprocal chirality conversion in the dynamical colloidal entanglements is demonstrated, which is induced by the interplay between topological profiles and the geometrical curvature of the disclination loop. Colloidal entanglements in opposite chirality are templated in arbitrary shapes of disclination lines. This work opens opportunities to design smart colloidal materials.

Science AdvancesVol. 11(8)
University of Science and Technology of China (CN), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HK)
Openalex Percentile: Top 11%
Liquid Crystal Research Advancements
2.56
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Nonreciprocal chirality conversion in spatiotemporal evolutions of nematic colloidal entanglement — Qingtian Shi, Jinghua Jiang, et al. · Science Advances (2025) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS