Tim Ogolla, featured ILCS liquid crystal artist, March 2021

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Tim Ogolla is currently a graduate student at the Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute (AMLCI) of Kent State University. His research, under the guidance and supervision of Dr. Torsten Hegmann, is on the transfer and amplification of chirality from chiral nanomaterials in lyotropic and lyotropic chromonic liquid crystals.

email: togolla@kent.edu
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A nematic matrix of sodium dodecyl sulfate/ n-decanol/ water is doped with 0.5 wt % cholesterol. Typically, the pitch is too long to observe any kind of decent fingerprint texture. Due to the air bubbles, though, a shape and texture reminiscent of a seashell is formed. Or is it part of an iris?
Jury comment: The picture represents the very nice fingerprint texture from a nematic matrix doped with cholesterol.