Experimental conditions for the stabilization of the lyotropic biaxial nematic mesophase

Abstract

Nematic phases are some of the most common phases among the lyotropic liquid crystalline structures. They have been widely investigated during last decades. In early studies, two uniaxial nematic phases (discotic, N D , and calamitic, N C ) were identified. After the discovery of the third one, named biaxial nematic phase (N B ) in 1980, however, some controversies in the stability of biaxial nematic phases began and still continue in the literature. From the theoretical point of view, the existence of a biaxial nematic phase is well established. This review aims to bring information about the historical development of those phases considering the early studies and then summarize the recent studies on how to stabilize different nematic phases from the experimental conditions, especially, choosing the suitable constituents of lyotropic mixtures.