Ye Yuan (WPI-SKCM2): Amyloid fibrils as chiral liquid crystal mesogens

Scientific Bio: Ye’s Website

Despite their link to neurodegenerative diseases, amyloids fibrils of natural and synthetic sources can also serve as model materials to study colloidal mesophases with partial ordering, or as building blocks to fabricate functional materials. Spontaneous phase separation within the aqueous suspension of amyloid fibrils lead to the formation of liquid crystalline droplets and bulk phases with varying configurations of the collective orientational ordering of the fibrils. In this talk I will describe how to measure, engineer, and exploit the ensuing anisotropic viscoelastic and optical properties of amyloid liquid crystals.