3D liquid crystal elastomer foams (LCEs) scaffold materials as dynamic substrates for cell culture, going beyond designing only a physical static 3D scaffold.

The development of appropriate materials that can make breakthroughs in tissue engineering has long been pursued by the scientific community. Several types of material have been long tested and re-designed for this purpose. At the same time, liquid crystals (LCs) have captivated the scientific community since their discovery in 1888 and soon after were thought to be, in combination with polymers, artificial muscles. Within the past decade liquid crystal elastomers (LCE) have been attracting increasing interest for their use as smart advanced materials for biological applications. Here, we examine how LCEs can potentially be used as dynamic substrates for culturing cells, moving away from the classical two-dimensional cell-culture nature. We also briefly discuss the integration of a few technologies for the preparation of more sophisticated LCE-composite scaffolds for more dynamic biomaterials. The anisotropic properties of LCEs can be used not only to promote cell attachment and the proliferation of cells, but also to promote cell alignment under LCE-stimulated deformation. 3D LCEs are ideal materials for new insights to simulate and study the development of tissues and the complex interplay between cells.

Chirality of nanomaterials is a rapidly evolving field, largely driven by the unique optical, electronic, magnetic or catalytic properties of plasmonic, magnetic and semiconductor nanomaterials among others. Liquid crystals continue to play a major role in developing a better understanding of their inherent chiroptical properties as well as serving as reporters to quantify and visualize nanomaterial chirality. Furthermore, liquid crystal phases are increasingly explored as potentially tuneable templates for the helical assembly of various types of nanomaterials. This review summarizes recent progress in this area by describing representative examples and key strategies pursued to interface nanomaterial and liquid crystal chirality. These studies focus on a range of organic and inorganic nanomaterials varying in size, shape and composition as well as on both thermotropic and lyotropic liquid crystal phases. Finally, the two materials concepts merge when liquid crystal molecules self-assemble into distinct filamentous chiral nanoshapes capable of templating other nanomaterials. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Composites based on ε-caprolactone-d,l-lactide-based elastomer with cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) are investigated to understand how matching cells with appropriate mechanical environments can provide important insights into fundamental cell behaviors.

Chiral filaments are omnipresent in nature and our daily lives. This review gives an overview of nano- and microfilaments, delineates formation modes based on the concept of intra- or interlayer misfits, and shows examples of template applications.