Liquid Crystal-driven Superspreading of Polymer Droplets at the Air-Water Interface

Yuan-Zhu Song; Xing-Chao Chen; Yan-Jun Liu; Pei-Yi Wu

doi:10.1007/s10118-026-3756-9

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Liquid Crystal-driven Superspreading of Polymer Droplets at the Air-Water Interface

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2026-08-19

- Liquid Crystal-driven Superspreading of Polymer Droplets at the Air-Water Interface
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 44, Pages: 1-8(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Center for Advanced Low-Dimension Materials, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China
- Author bio：
  
  liuyanjun@dhu.edu.cn (Y.J.L.)
  wupeiyi@dhu.edu.cn (P.Y.W.)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3756-9
  CLC：
- Received：27 April 2026，
  
  Accepted：23 May 2026，
  
  Online First：19 August 2026，
  
  Published：2026-07
- Accepted：
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Song, Y. Z.; Chen, X. C.; Liu, Y. J.; Wu, P. Y. Liquid crystal-driven superspreading of polymer droplets at the air-water interface. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-026-3756-9

Yuan-Zhu Song, Xing-Chao Chen, Yan-Jun Liu, et al. Liquid Crystal-driven Superspreading of Polymer Droplets at the Air-Water Interface[J/OL]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 441-8.
Song, Y. Z.; Chen, X. C.; Liu, Y. J.; Wu, P. Y. Liquid crystal-driven superspreading of polymer droplets at the air-water interface. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-026-3756-9 DOI：

Yuan-Zhu Song, Xing-Chao Chen, Yan-Jun Liu, et al. Liquid Crystal-driven Superspreading of Polymer Droplets at the Air-Water Interface[J/OL]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 441-8. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3756-9.

摘要

Abstract

Ultrathin polymer films are difficult to fabricate over large areas and transfer without damage. Spreading polymer droplets on water offers an atomically flat and releasable substrate

but the attainable area is limited by interfacial friction and tension gradient difference. Here

we show that interfacial resistance

rather than tension difference alone

dictates the spreading limit. By introducing a hydrophobic liquid crystal (4-cyano-4’-heptylbiphenyl

7CB)

we uncover a superspreading phenomenon in which polymer droplets rapidly expand into large-area ultrathin films on aqueous salt solutions. This behavior is enabled by a phase-transition-enabled interfacial lubrication mechanism. During spreading

7CB reaches a low-mobility nematic liquid-crystalline state and becomes enriched on the organic side of the solvent-water interface

forming a dynamically generated lubricating region that reduces resistance to rapid liquid-liquid spreading. Low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements reveal a sharp transition in molecular mobility

directly linking the phase state of 7CB to interfacial resistance reduction. This strategy is universal across polymers with diverse mechanical properties and enables the fabrication of transferable

nanometer-thick films with integrated functionalities. These findings redefine the role of liquid-liquid interfaces in spreading dynamics and provide a general framework for designing near-frictionless interfacial transport processes.

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references

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