(17c) Tailoring Anisotropic Nanomaterial Liquid Crystal Dispersions: From Fiber Spinning to Direct Ink Writing

This talk highlights progress in understanding lyotropic nanomaterial liquid crystal phase behavior, rheological properties, and manufacturing. Current challenges and future opportunities to fully control spatial and orientational distribution of nanomaterials in solid products are also described. Investigating dispersions of recently produced 1D and 2D nanomaterials is extending our fundamental understanding of liquid crystal and colloid science just as studies of tobacco mosaic virus and nanoclay dispersions did nearly one hundred years ago. Moreover, anisotropic nanomaterial liquid crystal processing has been established as the preferred route for manufacturing solid materials comprised of aligned nanoscale building blocks. Both wet fiber spinning methods and direct ink writing are extrusion-based manufacturing methods where processing shear can further enhance the alignment in the initial liquid crystal dispersions. This enables the production of highly aligned materials with exceptional mechanical, electrical, and/or optical properties. Twenty years of progress in this field have enabled the commercialization of carbon nanotube fibers produced from liquid crystalline dispersions, and rapid progress is being made in printing MXene and other liquid crystalline dispersions. Further advances in understanding the role of shape and polydispersity will enable even more precise control of nanomaterial spatial and orientational distribution. This promises to lead to the production of exciting new materials for energy applications, sensing, biomedicine, electromagnetic shielding, transportation, and many other industries.