Electrically controllable self-assembly for radial alignment of gold nanorods in liquid crystal droplets

We demonstrate the dispersion and alignment of gold nanorods in 5CB liquid crystal droplets in silicon oil with a radial director structure. This biphasic system shows that the nanorods are stabilized against phase boundary driven aggregation. The radial alignment of the droplets can be further controlled by electric field. This method is potentially useful for the fabrication of hybrid nanostructured materials, such as plasmonic polymer dispersed liquid crystals and self-assembly-based devices; it could also be extended for use with magnetic, semi-conducting, or up-conversion nanoparticles.