Plasmonic nanoparticles can self-assemble into liquid-crystalline phases with collective optical properties that differ strongly from those of isolated particles. This project will investigate the confinement of these new phases within emulsion droplets to create microscale, reconfigurable plasmonic materials. The study will focus on gold and silver nanorods forming nematic and smectic phases in confined geometries. It is expected that the curvature of the droplet interface impose specific orientations and generate defects or frustrated configurations. The project will (1) establish robust protocols for producing water in oil droplets containing plasmonic liquid crystals, (2) study the structure and measure the optical properties. Beyond fundamental research, we test this approach as a scalable route for "plasmonic pixels" with tunable vibrant colors.