According to reports, scientists have found that liquid crystals defects could be used as templates for assembling molecules into accurately defined 3-D nanoscale structures. Their work has been published in the September 21 edition of the journal Nature Materials.

According to Nicholas Abbott, the John T. and Magdalen L. Sobota Professor and Hilldale Professor of chemical and biological engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, "It's a demonstration of principle. What one can imagine is using defects in liquid crystals to assemble molecules into a range of useful structures, including channels that could facilitate the transport of other molecules, like nanoscopic tubes”.

It is possible to send these channels from any one point to any other point by controlling the system’s geometry. Assembling of many other shapes is also possible, Abbott added. He called it a versatile approach.

Abbott and his associates in the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at UW-Madison reported details of their research.

Abbott carries out study on interfacial and colloidal phenomena in different soft material systems. He has been studying liquid crystals for nearly 20 years. According to him, a lot of work has been done by them on the interfaces of liquid crystals in the past, but now, they are analyzing the liquid crystal.

He added they are studying how the internal structure of liquid crystals could be used to direct the organization of molecules. Abbott said that no prior example of making use of a defect in a liquid crystal is there to template molecular organization.