Fragmented Liquid Crystals of Graphene Oxide

Fragmented Liquid Crystals of Graphene Oxide | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Fragmented Liquid Crystals of Graphene Oxide Zhen Xu, Zhiping Xu, Chenwei Shen, Yangchao Liao, Senping Liu, and 13 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5832074/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Repulsive colloids can form liquid crystals (LCs) that combine fluidity and structural order. Screening repulsion leads to abrupt collapse of LC, losing fluidity either by gelation or frustrating structural order by coagulation. However, the evolution of liquid crystallinity before the transition from overall repulsion to attraction remains unclear. Here we find an intermediate LC state of graphene oxide (GO), named as fragmentated LC (FLC). FLC features fragmented domains down to single entity size but keeps good fluidity contrary to gel and coagulation. In FLC, the balanced interaction keeps single-layer dispersed state of GO and triggers transient networks. GO FLCs surprisingly serve as a peculiar processing state towards amorphous but compact structures with both high strength and toughness, beyond brittle crystalline structures assembled from ordinary nematic LCs. Our findings enable precisely modulating LC directors down to the molecular size limit and provide a new design method for exotic amorphous materials. Physical sciences/Physics/Condensed-matter physics/Structure of solids and liquids Physical sciences/Materials science/Nanoscale materials/Graphene/Mechanical and structural properties and devices Physical sciences/Nanoscience and technology/Graphene Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files ChenweiShenFLCNatureCommunicationsSM.pdf Supplementary Materials-Fragmented Liquid Crystals of Graphene Oxide Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5832074","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":405117375,"identity":"280f3483-4130-4c94-9bcf-792b55dbd806","order_by":0,"name":"Zhen 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