International student research, public engagement, and featured media from the lab.
The Liquid Crystalline and Responsive Fibers International Research Experience for Students (LCRF-IRES), directed by Dr. Jákli in collaboration with Dr. John West (Kent State University) and Dr. Margaret Frey (Cornell University), was funded by the National Science Foundation. Over four years it sent eighteen undergraduate and graduate students to partner institutions in South Korea, Luxembourg, and Germany to work on liquid crystal science and the production of responsive fibers and smart textiles — gaining cutting-edge research experience while building international collaborations.
Partner institutions: Seoul National University (Suwon, South Korea); University of Luxembourg; Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg (Germany); and the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Göttingen (Germany).
Principal investigator of the project. Educated at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest and a postdoctoral researcher under the renowned liquid crystal scientist Alfred Saupe, he has been a professor at the Kent State University Liquid Crystal Institute since 2001. His interests lie particularly in bent-core liquid crystals and their applications.
Co-PI of the project and a Trustees Research Professor of Chemistry at Kent State University. Having worked with polymer-dispersed liquid crystals for over 25 years, he pioneered the development of polymer-dispersed liquid crystals, bistable cholesteric dispersions, and stressed liquid crystal systems.
Co-PI for the grant and Associate Professor of Fiber Science and Apparel Design at Cornell University. An alumna of North Carolina State University's Fiber and Polymer Science program, her interests include the synthesis of fibers with responsive properties and their incorporation into smart textiles.
Professor in the Physics and Materials Science Research Unit at the University of Luxembourg and a graduate of Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. He is a well-known expert in liquid crystal science, with areas of expertise including liquid crystals in many forms, microfluidics, and electrospinning.
Researcher at the University of Luxembourg who received her doctorate from Chalmers University of Technology. Her current research interests lie in composite fibers, carbon nanotubes, graphene oxide and the phases it forms, and semiconducting liquid crystals.
Professor and head of the Department for Nonlinear Phenomena at Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg. An expert in liquid crystals and other fluids of reduced dimensionality, his group has performed groundbreaking research in ferrielectric bent-core liquid crystals.
Researcher at Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg whose foci are on the symmetry, polarity, and chirality of ferroelectric liquid crystal materials, especially in thin films.
Postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Oliver Bäumchen's lab at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPIDS) in Göttingen, with a doctorate in Physics from Kent State University. Her interests lie in the dynamics of living organisms in confinement and the rupture and dynamics of mechanically-drawn liquid crystal filaments.
Dynamics of confined systems and buckling fibers; electrospun encapsulated responsive structures. Hosted at the Max Planck Institute, Göttingen, and the University of Luxembourg.
Worked with Dr. Anshul Sharma and Catherine Reyes on the electrospraying of polymer-encapsulated liquid crystal beads (Luxembourg). B.A. student, Fashion Design, Kent State.
Worked on the electrospraying of polymer-encapsulated liquid crystal beads (Luxembourg). B.S. student, Fiber Science, Cornell.
Worked on the electrospraying of polymer-encapsulated liquid crystal beads (Luxembourg). B.S. student, Chemistry, SUNY Buffalo.
Worked with Dr. Tanya Ostapenko on the swimming dynamics of photo-responsive plankton in confined environments of various geometries (Max Planck, Göttingen). B.S. student, University of Chicago.
Worked with Oliver Kress on the rupture and recoil behaviour of liquid crystal filaments (Max Planck, Göttingen). B.Eng. student, University of Arizona.
Free-standing and electrospun liquid crystal fibers. Hosted at Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg and the University of Luxembourg.
In Dr. Stannarius' lab under Dr. Eremin, investigated the M37 liquid crystal using polarizing microscopy, Polscope, and electro-optical techniques; made free-standing films and filaments and measured elastic constants. Ph.D. student, Kent State.
Studied the formation and rupture of liquid crystal fibers, individually and in bundles, under varying thermal and oscillatory conditions (Magdeburg). Ph.D. student, Kent State.
Continued earlier work with Kirsten Harth on the study of smectic liquid crystal bubbles, their formation and rupture (Magdeburg). Ph.D. student, Kent State.
Tested solvents to encase cholesteric liquid crystals in electrospun PVP fibers, and encased DCM dye with a nematic LC and chiral dopant for lasing experiments (Luxembourg). B.S. student, Xavier University.
Coaxially electrospun polymeric sheaths with liquid crystalline cores and produced electrosprayed polymer beads filled with cholesteric LC that change color with temperature (Luxembourg). Ph.D. student, UMass Amherst.
Investigated solvent systems for coaxial electrospinning of polymer-sheath / LC-core nanofibers and air-brushed LC-core microfibers (Luxembourg). B.S. student, Cornell.
Mechanically-drawn free-standing fibers and films, and electrospun responsive fibers. Hosted at Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg and the University of Luxembourg.
Worked with Kirsten Harth and Dr. Stannarius on the formation of non-polar liquid crystal bubbles in surfactant-filled environments and their dynamics on the introduction of air (Magdeburg). Ph.D. student.
Worked on fiber production and rupture with Maria-Gabriela Tamba and Dr. Eremin (Magdeburg). M.S. student, Kent State.
Studied incorporation of liquid crystals doped with chiral azobenzene and dyes into coaxially-spun nylon fibers to produce light-responsive fibers (Luxembourg). M.S. student, Cornell.
Worked on incorporating conductive cores such as PEDOT into fiber form (Luxembourg). Ph.D. student, Kent State.
Worked on coaxial electrospinning of liquid-crystal-containing fibers with bent-core liquid crystals showing a ferroelectric phase (Luxembourg). Ph.D. student, Kent State.
Electrospinning of responsive fibers, hosted by Dr. Jan Lagerwall and Dr. Giusy Scalia at Seoul National University.
Worked with Dae Kyom Kim, Yoomee Kye, and Minsik Hwang on the electrospinning of coaxial liquid crystal fibers incorporating a bent-core liquid crystal core for flexoelectric properties. Ph.D. student, Chemical Physics, Kent State.
Worked with Hyeran Jo, Minsik Hwang, and Yoomee Kye on spinning liquid crystal fibers incorporating carbon nanotubes into the sheath and fibers with liquid-metal cores. Ph.D. student, Chemical Physics, Kent State.
Television coverage highlighting the institute's liquid crystal research.
Invited talk on the lab's research directions.