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Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Interfacial Molecular-level Structures of Polymers and Biomacromolecules Revealed via Sum Frequency Generation Vibrational Spectroscopy
Published on: August 13, 2019
Liquid crystal alignment on a chiral surface: interfacial interaction with sheared DNA films
M Nakata1, G Zanchetta, M Buscaglia
1Department of Physics and Liquid Crystal Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0390, USA.
Abstract:
We explore the alignment of various achiral liquid crystals on films of aligned double-stranded helical DNA. In all cases and both for the nematic and smectic A phases, we find a distinctly chiral interfacial structure, with the mean orientation of the liquid crystal in contact with the DNA-treated surfaces chirally rotated through a substantial angle with respect to the mean DNA orientation. This rotation originates in the chirality of double-stranded DNA and depends on the liquid crystal molecular structure. We discuss the role of dipolar and hydrophobic coupling in determining the observed orientation.
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