Thermotropic mesogens, cubic phase

As for low molecular weight surfactants, the superstructures are assumed to be formed by micellar aggregates [126], But it seems that the formation of lyotropic liquid crystals is supported by the additional presence of thermotropic mesogens [87,122-124,126], Lamellar, hexagonal, cubic and even nematic and cholesteric mesophases were reported for binary systems, the latter being exceptional. Lyotropic mesophases were also observed in non-aqueous solvents [240,400,401,405], If polymerizable surfactants are studied, not only the phase diagram but also the types of mesophases observed for the monomer and the polymer may be different. 

Vesicular LC phases are a new kind of LC phase with cellular structure that is formed by the spatial organization of cylindrical, spherical, or polyhedral aggregates of curved single layers, bilayers, or double layers. These phases have been considered as complicated columnar and cubic mesophases with core-shell morphology [192]. Till now only few vesicular mesophase are reported for thermotropic mesogens [193-196]. 

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