Lyotropic Liquid Crystal to Soft Mesocrystal Transformation in Hydrated Salt-Surfactant Mixtures

Hydrated CaCl 2 , LiI, and MgCl 2 salts induce self‐assembly in nonionic surfactants (such as C 12 H 25 (OCH 2 CH 2 ) 10 OH) to form lyotropic liquid‐crystalline (LLC) mesophases that undergo a phase transition to a new type of soft mesocrystal (SMC) under ambient conditions. The SMC samples can be obtained by aging the LLC samples, which were prepared as thin films by spin‐coating, dip‐coating, or drop‐casting of a clear homogenized solution of...