Liquid crystals have been intensively studied as functional materials. Recently, integration of
various disciplines has led to new directions in the design of functional liquid‐crystalline …

Incorporating molecular photoswitches into various materials provides unique opportunities
for controlling their properties and functions with high spatiotemporal resolution using …

Precise control over molecular movement is of fundamental and practical importance in
physics, biology, and chemistry. At nanoscale, the peculiar functioning principles and the …

The development of science and technology of advanced materials using nanoscale units
can be conducted by a novel concept involving combination of nanotechnology …

Incorporation of non‐equilibrium actions in the sequence of self‐assembly processes would
be an effective means to establish bio‐like high functionality hierarchical assemblies. As a …

Designing interfacial structures with nanoscale (or molecular) components is one of the
important tasks in the nanoarchitectonics concept. In particular, the Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) …

Exploration of molecular functions and material properties based on the control of chirality
would be a scientifically elegant approach. Here, the fabrication and function of chiral …

Oriented liquid crystal networks (LCNs) can undergo reversible shape change at the
macroscopic scale upon an order–disorder phase transition of the mesogens. This property …

Swimmers at liquid/air interfaces have drawn enormous attention because of their potential
applications. Described herein is one novel light‐driven swimmer based on a bimorph …

The ability to optically reconfigure an existing actuator of a liquid crystal polymer network
(LCN) so that it can display a new actuation behavior or function is highly desired in …