ABSTRACT In nature, numerous life activities are associated with electro‐response, including electricity generation, perception of external electrical signals, and neural electrical regulation of color. Inspired by natural phenomenon, cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) are created as electrically regulating soft matter superstructure with a helical arrangement. CLCs are formed by doping nematic liquid crystals with chiral molecules. This structure endows CLCs with selective reflection performances, allowing them to reflect circularly polarized light within a specific wavelength range while transmitting the rest. They are also responsive to external stimuli, particularly electric fields. CLCs can undergo reversible switching among different states under an applied electric field—such as planar, focal conic, homeotropic, lying helical, and oblique helical states—demonstrating changes in transparency, scattering, and reflection colors. These features enable applications in smart windows, displays, encryption/anti‐counterfeiting, and circularly polarized luminescence. This review summarizes the fundamental concepts, performances, and multiple optical states of bio‐inspired electro‐responsive CLC materials. It focuses on the electrically induced switching between transparent and scattering states, as well as the electrical modulation of the reflection state. Finally, the article analyzes current challenges and future research directions, providing an important reference for developing new electro‐responsive CLC materials.
Li et al. (2026) studied this question.