Professor Oleg Lavrentovich is world renowned for his research work on liquid crystals. He is a Trustees Research Professor at the Kent State University as well at the editor of the Liquid Crystal Reviews journal. Much of his research investigates their practical application. For example, his research group have previously established how to cloak electrodes by using liquid crystals to bend the light around them. They have even researched how to use them as mediums to carry particles such as bacteria.
Some of their more recent work demonstrated how electric fields can trigger unique structural response in nematic liquid crystals. This in turn can propagate solitary waves that are trapped in all three spatial dimensions. The group used the LTS350* to control the temperature around the sample. Their work demonstrated the rich dynamic behaviour of the liquid crystal system and the ease of control, which paves way for further study.
The Lavrentovich Research Group are further planning SAXS/WAXS experiments with their CSS450 rheological system and sheared liquid crystals. We look forward to seeing more work from them soon.
http://www.linkam.co.uk/linkam-blog/2018/9/10/lab-of-the-month-august-2018