| ILCS |
Featured Liquid Crystal Picture Art of the Month
June 2025©Athul Satya TB10A nematic phase texture
Description A polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-coated glass slide was employed as the substrate for the deposition of TB10A. The image was captured during the heating process at 155.5 °C, corresponding to the phase transition from nematic to Smectic I. The actual field of view in the TB10A POM image corresponds to a width of 200 μm. |
Author
Athul Satya is currently pursuing her Ph.D. at the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Meghalaya, India, under the guidance of Prof. Ayon Bhattacharjee in the Liquid Crystal Research Group. Her research focuses on the use of cyanobiphenyl-based liquid crystals as potential label-free biosensors for protein detection. As part of her work, she has successfully developed two biosensor prototypes for the detection of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and human insulin.
Athul specializes in textural and topological defect analysis using polarising optical microscopy and Raman spectroscopy, with a strong emphasis on understanding liquid crystal–protein interactions. She also has hands-on experience with dielectric spectroscopy and related characterization techniques.
In recognition of her work, she was awarded the International Liquid Crystal Society (ILCS) Student Travel Grant to attend the 17th European Conference on Liquid Crystals (ECLC 2025) in Prague, Czech Republic. Currently in the final phase of her Ph.D., she is actively seeking postdoctoral research opportunities in the fields of liquid crystals, biosensing, and soft matter physics.
Contact Details:
Email id: satyaathul@gmail.com
Research gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Athul-Satya?ev=hdr_xprf
Orcid Id: 0009-0007-7639-0841
Jury Comment
This image captures a mesmerizing display of aesthetic beauty through the lens of polarized light microscopy. Spirals outward in concentric harmony, as if nature herself painted it
Please note:All pictures are copyright of the artists themselves! If you would like to use the pictures in any context, you must ask permission of the artists directly. | Visit the Gallery |