Synthesis of 3D Chiral Microparticles from Nematic Liquid Crystal Templates


Büküşoğlu E., Akdeniz B.

Eastern Mediterranean Chemical Engineering Conference 9, Ankara, Türkiye, 30 Ağustos - 01 Eylül 2018, ss.1

  • Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Özet Bildiri
  • Basıldığı Şehir: Ankara
  • Basıldığı Ülke: Türkiye
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1
  • Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Microparticles with complex structures can be used for various areas such as drug delivery1, emulsion stabilization2, sensor applications, catalysis3 and separation processes4. We report a new synthesis procedure which involve the use of photolithography combined with liquid crystal templates. Specifically, mixtures of the reactive mesogen (RM257) and nonreactive liquid crystal (E7) were polymerized using a UV light that was filtered with a lithograpy mask. We used circular, triangular, rectangular, square shape, star shape and heart shape lithography masks to cover the shape library for the synthesis of further macro-systems. The LC-monomer mixture was kept inside a sandwich cell that allow manipulation of the alignment of the LCs within. After polymerization, unreacted mesogens were extracted from polymeric microparticles and allowed to shrink and maintain the final form of the microparticles. We showed that polymeric microparticles can be produced in 2D or 3D structures and different sizes that range from 20 µm to 200 µm in length and 1.5 µm to 160 µm in thickness.  We showed that the particles of circular, elliptical, triangular, square, rectangular, star and heart shapes in 2D, and chiral particles in 3D can be synthesized.

Microparticles with complex structures can be used for various areas such as drug delivery1, emulsion stabilization2, sensor applications, catalysis3 and separation processes4. We report a new synthesis procedure which involve the use of photolithography combined with liquid crystal templates. Specifically, mixtures of the reactive mesogen (RM257) and nonreactive liquid crystal (E7) were polymerized using a UV light that was filtered with a lithograpy mask. We used circular, triangular, rectangular, square shape, star shape and heart shape lithography masks to cover the shape library for the synthesis of further macro-systems. The LC-monomer mixture was kept inside a sandwich cell that allow manipulation of the alignment of the LCs within. After polymerization, unreacted mesogens were extracted from polymeric microparticles and allowed to shrink and maintain the final form of the microparticles. We showed that polymeric microparticles can be produced in 2D or 3D structures and different sizes that range from 20 µm to 200 µm in length and 1.5 µm to 160 µm in thickness.  We showed that the particles of circular, elliptical, triangular, square, rectangular, star and heart shapes in 2D, and chiral particles in 3D can be synthesized.