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Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Synthesis and Exfoliation of Discotic Zirconium Phosphates to Obtain Colloidal Liquid Crystals
Published on: May 25, 2016
Observation of a hexatic columnar liquid crystal of polydisperse colloidal disks
A V Petukhov1, D van der Beek, R P A Dullens
1Van't Hoff Laboratory for Physical and Colloid Chemistry, Debye Institute, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
We report the observation of a new type of columnar liquid crystal phase, which is formed by thin hard colloidal disks in a dense suspension. High-resolution small-angle x-ray diffraction reveals a combination of long-range bond-orientational order and short-range translational order between the columns, the hallmark of the hexatic phase. Our results imply that geometric frustration related to the size polydispersity of the particles destroys long-range translational order and therefore promotes the formation of this novel phase.
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