Liquid Crystal Nanocomposites Doped with Rare Earth Elements

Abstract
Rare-earth elements have unique electronic properties. Therefore, rare-earth-based nanomaterials are extremely promising in the field of energy conversion, biomedicine and display devices. Incorporation of such materials into a liquid crystal matrix opens up opportunities for tuning their physicochemical properties by applying external electric and magnetic fields. This can be achieved using both supramolecular and colloidal chemistry. The systems obtained in these ways are often similar. They are called self-organizing nanosystems. This review focuses on the latest advances in the development of such systems and the discovered synergistic effects. The review consists of two parts: the first describes recent advances in synthesis and potential applications of lanthanide-containing liquid crystals, and the second describes the effect of nanoscale rare-earth particles on the functional features of liquid crystals and their differences from dispersions of other inorganic nanoparticles. Particular attention is paid to the use of these liquid crystal systems for the component base of electronics.

Keywords: liquid crystals, nanocomposites, rare-earth elements, electronic components