Kent State University

Alphamicron, Inc.

Zymergen Inc.

The University Court of the University of Aberdeen

Peter Palffy-Muhoray

Bahman Taheri

Antal Jakli

Tamas Kosa

John Ernest Harden, Jr

James T Gleeson

Samuel Sprunt

Vincent J Hetherington

Fred Minkowski

Adam Luke Safir

Liang-Chy Chien

Oleg D Lavrentovich

John L West

Robert J Twieg

Hiroshi Yokoyama

Jie V Xiang

Andrii Varanytsia

Corrie T Imrie

John M Storey

Daniel E Paterson

Arjan Zoombelt

Ashani Wedige-Fernando

Shilpa Naresh Raja

Pawan Nepal

Mykhailo Pevnyi

Gongjian Hu

Michael J Shelley

Miguel Angel Camacho-Lopez

Jill S Kawalec

Lawrence Osher

Yijing Chen

Tianyi Guo

The disclosure discusses chiral dopants for liquid-crystalline materials. Chiral dopants can be bioreachable compounds, i.e. compounds produced from microbes through fermentation. Chiral dopants can also include bioreachable materials that are further modified by chemical synthetic steps. Chiral dopants as discussed herein can include biomolecules such as glycyrrhetinic acid (1), S-naringenin (2), shikimic acid (3), alpha-phellandrene (4), betulin (5), malic acid (6), valencene (7), or nootkatone (8), and any stereoisomers or chemically modified derivatives thereof. The disclosure further shows optical properties of such compounds in a liquid-crystalline material.

Bioreachable chiral dopants for liquid crystal applications

A lasing device includes an active layer comprising a cholesteric liquid crystal material and a laser dye, and a liquid crystal cell including spaced apart substrates defining a cell gap in which the active layer is disposed. The substrates include electrodes arranged to bias the active layer into an oblique helicoidal (Ch) state. At least one substrate of the liquid crystal cell is optically transparent for a lasing wavelength range of the device.

Electrically tunable laser with cholesteric liquid crystal heliconical structure

An apparatus for measuring normal and shear stress at a surface. The apparatus includes a substrate; and a plurality of sensing units on the substrate. Each sensing unit includes a mechanical transducer having a receiving surface and a sensing surface; and a plurality of normal force sensors between the sensing surface and the substrate.

Apparatus for measuring surface profile of normal and shear stress

A thermochromic fabric utilizing cholesteric liquid crystals includes a fabric material or garment formed therefrom. The liquid crystal material is patterned with a plurality of different liquid crystal formulations, whereby each formulation has high thermal sensitivity over a narrow temperature range. As a result, the aggregate pattern of liquid crystal material formed on the thermochromic fabric allows the thermochromic fabric to have high thermal sensitivity over a broad temperature range. As such, the fabric or garment may be worn on specific body parts of a patient, such as his or her feet, to assist in making a medical diagnosis.

Thermochromic fabrics utilizing cholesteric liquid crystal material

There are provided methods for creating energy conversion devices based on the giant flexoelectric effect in non-calamitic liquid crystals. By preparing a substance comprising at least one type of non-calamitic liquid crystal molecules and stabilizing the substance to form a mechanically flexible material, flexible conductive electrodes may be applied to the material to create an electro-mechanical energy conversion device which relies on the giant flexoelectric effect to produce electrical and/or mechanical energy that is usable in such applications as, for example, power sources, energy dissipation, sensors/transducers, and actuators.

Method of determining a flexoelectric effect in a liquid crystal material

Electro-mechanical energy conversion devices and systems

Method of creating an electro-mechanical energy conversion device

A new way of generating electrical power by changing the dielectric properties of liquid crystals by mechanical means is described. Such a method and device take advantage of the nature of the liquid crystal as the dielectric material in a capacitor. A broad range of materials, including various liquid crystalline materials, as well as additional mechanisms (flexoelectric polarization) to fully exploit the potential of this mechanism may be realized. Applications of this technology may be useful in wearable personal electric generators as well as in noise damping materials/devices, which not only absorb and dissipate sound, but use it to generate electric power.

Electric power generation using liquid crystals

A method for inducing movement of an object in contact with a fluid, includes providing a flexible object, and exposing the object to an energy source. The energy source induces a change in the shape of the object, and movement occurs as a result of the change in shape of the object. The flexible object may be a liquid crystal elastomer object. An apparatus for producing work, including a liquid crystalline elastomer capable of changing shape upon exposure to an energy source is also disclosed.

Motion of liquid crystaline elastomers and method of use thereof

A device () for differentially absorbing light, depending on the state of linear polarization of the light, is disclosed. This polarizing effect is induced and controllable by the level of ambient light impinging on the device. The device () may be used as an anti-glare vision protection device which selectively absorbs specularly reflected sunlight in brightly lit environments while permitting all light to pass in dimly lit environments. The device () includes a carrying medium which may be a film () or opposed substrates () that are sealed. A film or the opposed substrates carry a mixture () of fluid material () and photochromic dyestuffs (), wherein the photochromic material is activated upon the detection of ultraviolet light so as to absorb some of the light and wherein the energization of the photochromic material effects the material so as to simultaneously selectively absorb the specularly reflected sunlight. The material () may be any fluid that dissolves the photochromic dyestuff material (). The fluid is preferably a liquid crystal material such as nematic or chiral nematic. Alternatively, the material () may be a polymer liquid crystal. The device () may allow for electrical control of the absorptive properties.

Device exhibiting photo-induced dichroism for adaptive anti-glare vision protection

A device ( ) for differentially absorbing light, depending on the state of linear polarization of the light, is disclosed. This polarizing effect is induced and controllable by the level of ambient light impinging on the device. The device ( ) may be used as an anti-glare vision protection device which selectively absorbs specularly reflected sunlight in brightly lit environments while permitting all light to pass in dimly lit environments. The device ( ) includes a carrying medium which may be a film ( ) or opposed substrates ( ) that are sealed. A film or the opposed substrates carry a mixture ( ) of fluid material ( ) and photochromic dyestuffs ( ), wherein the photochromic material is activated upon the detection of ultraviolet light so as to absorb some of the light and wherein the energization of the photochromic material effects the material so as to simultaneously selectively absorb the specularly reflected sunlight. The material ( ) may be any fluid that dissolves the photochromic dyestuff material ( ). The fluid is preferably a liquid crystal material such as nematic or chiral nematic. Alternatively, the material ( ) may be a polymer liquid crystal. The device ( ) may allow for electrical control of the absorptive properties.

A polymerizable liquid crystalline monomer is described comprising a polymerizable first terminal group, a central portion, and a second terminal group, wherein the monomer is capable of filament formation. Filaments can form as a result of an isotropic to smectic phase transition and can subsequently be polymerized by photoinitiation, for example.

Production of filaments via phase separation and polymerization

A splicing asymmetric reflective array (,) for combining at least two input beams (,) into a combined output (,). The arrays include a plurality of substantially reflecting, adjacently positioned layers (,). Each layer (,) has substantially the same width (,) and substantially the same thickness (,) while having a different height dimension (,). A collective entry portion (,) is formed by the adjacent layers' width and thickness dimensions, wherein at least two input beams are directed into and received therein. A collective exit portion (,) is formed by the adjacent layers' height dimensions, wherein the height dimensions are monotonically increasing. A cascade array (,) incorporating the array,and reduced size arrays (,and,) may be used to combine more than two input beams into one. A three-dimensional array (,), which alters the slope of each layer's height dimension, can be used to combine four input beams (,) into one output beam (,).

Splicing asymmetric reflective array for combining high power laser beams

A cell for the electronic attenuation of light suitable for use in eyewear includes spaced substrates coated with a conducting layer, and preferably a passivation layer and an alignment layer. Disposed between the substrates is a guest-host solution comprising a host material and a light-absorbing dichroic dye guest. A power circuit is provided with a power supply connected to the conducting layers. Adjustment of the power supply alters the orientation of the host material which in turn alters the orientation of the dichroic dye. Light is absorbed by the dichroic dye, depending upon its orientation without the need for polarizers.

Variable light attentuating dichroic dye guest-host device

Growing community of inventors

Kent, OH, United States of America

Peter Palffy-Muhoray