Lyotropic Liquid Crystalline Materials

Liquid crystals are intermediate states of matter, between the isotropic liquid and solid crystal. In this review we will focus on the lyotropic mixtures of materials that present ordering of their basic units and originate remarkable mesomorphic states. We discuss lyotropic materials made of amphiphilic molecules, chromonic molecules, inorganic materials and living systems. We also discuss the relations of lyotropics with biological systems and different applications of lyotropics in the food and cosmetic industry, and in drug delivery. These materials are also used as nanoreactors to produce nanomaterials on this length scale. In summary, lyotropics show a rich set of structures, obtained by their basic units self-assembly, with different symmetries, that allow their application and approach in many branches of science and technology. Moreover, lyotropics still present challenges from the theoretical point of view that are interesting to be studied, for example, the nano segregation occurring in their structure where more than one type of amphiphilic molecule is present in the mixture.