Liquid Crystal Films

Dear Colleagues,

The liquid crystal state of matter is one in which molecules possess orientational order while no positional order is present. Films made from liquid crystals form a family of functional materials with great potential in various technological fields, from optics to mechanics to electronics to biological sciences. Electro-tunable birefringence in nematic liquid crystals caused by voltages as low as few volts forms the basis of flat panel displays; today, new liquid crystal phases and materials, such as blue phases and polymer or nanoparticle composites and are being actively pursued for better electro-optic performance. Following the recent advances in nanofabrication techniques, liquid crystals have been combined with photonic crystals and metamaterials to provide tunability in these devices. On the other hand, using the ability of liquid crystal molecules to self-organize into complex three-dimensional structures, polymer and elastomeric films with properties not easily attainable by man-made structures, such as tunable, circular Bragg reflection and lasing have been realized. Semiconducting liquid crystals forming smectic or columnar phases have proven their potential for high-performance photovoltaics (OPVs) and transistors (OFETs).

Liquid crystal science is an interdisciplinary area of science which calls for collaboration of physicists, chemists, biologists, and engineers.

This special issue welcomes research articles on the fabrication, characterization and application of functional liquid crystalline films.

Dr. Hiroyuki Yoshida
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Coatings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• liquid crystals
• liquid crystal-polymer nanocomposites
• liquid crystal-nanoparticle composites
• photonic crystals
• metamaterials
• photovoltaics
• electro-optics
• tunable films