Schematic of the flow-induced orientation of nematic LC domains of nanosheets and in situ-formed entangled hydrogel. The high-AR monolayer nanosheets allow the co-planar alignment of nanosheets and the macroscopic orientation of LC domains by mild shear flow. (i) Polarized photograph of a pristine 1.5 wt% hectorite dispersion (5 mm thick). (ii) Polarized photograph of a monodomain 1.5 wt% hectorite dispersion (0.5 mm thick). The dashed line marks the contour of dispersion. A and P indicate the directions of the analyser and polarizer. R g is the radius of gyration of PAAm. Scale bars, 5 mm.
