Liquid Crystalline Nature of K4Nb6O17 Nanosheet Sols and Their Macroscopic Alignment

Liquid crystallinity of layered niobate K4Nb6O17 colloidally dispersed via exfoliation has been achieved as evidenced by birefringence of the colloid (see Figure). Due to the large lateral size of the nanosheets, the liquid-crystalline state is stable down to low concentrations and macroscopic alignment is easily induced by gravitational force. Potential applications of these nanosheets as anisotropic soft nanohybrids can be foreseen.