A $536,000 grant has been given to Kent State’s Liquid Crystal Institute and physics department to pursue the study of boomerang-shaped liquid crystal molecules, according to a press release. The grant was issued by the National Science Foundation.

Researchers will work to discover new liquid crystal states of matter and work on advancing developments in “flexoelectricity” -ÿa study that could ultimately lead to the creation of environmentally friendly power generators.

Kent State graduate students will receive hands-on experience throughout the course of the project by working with researchers to perform experiments -ÿboth at the Kent State facilities and at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Fla., which is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

-ÿBen Breier