Abstract: The present invention is to provide a high quality smectic aerogel which is not brittle and a method for producing the smectic aerogel by using a host material comprising a mixture of a smectic liquid crystal and a UV-curable material or a host material comprising a smectic UV-curable material and by selecting an appropriate host material. A smectic aerogel comprising 4-nonyl-4?-cyanobiphenyl (9BC) and air bubbles can be produced, wherein hexagonal or pentagonal air cells are separated from each other by a smectic layer comprising a smectic liquid crystal. The thickness of the wall of the smectic layer at the boundaries of the air cells is about 24 ?m, which corresponds to about 6000 smectic layers. The thickness of the wall of the smectic layer at the boundaries can be varied. Particularly, the thickness can be reduced to as thin as several smectic layers.

Abstract: The present invention is to provide a high quality smectic aerogel which is not brittle and a method for producing the smectic aerogel by using a host material comprising a mixture of a smectic liquid crystal and a UV-curable material or a host material comprising a smectic UV-curable material and by selecting an appropriate host material. A smectic aerogel comprising 4-nonyl-4?-cyanobiphenyl (9BC) and air bubbles can be produced, wherein hexagonal or pentagonal air cells are separated from each other by a smectic layer comprising a smectic liquid crystal. The thickness of the wall of the smectic layer at the boundaries of the air cells is about 24 ?m, which corresponds to about 6000 smectic layers. The thickness of the wall of the smectic layer at the boundaries can be varied. Particularly, the thickness can be reduced to as thin as several smectic layers.