text: The term lyotropic has also been applied to the liquid crystalline phases that are formed by certain polymeric materials, particularly those consisting of rigid rod-like macromolecules, when they are mixed with appropriate solvents. Examples are suspensions of rod-like viruses such as the tobacco mosaic virus as well as synthetic macromolecules, such as LiMoSe nanowire  or colloidal suspensions of non-spherical colloidal particles. Cellulose and cellulose derivatives form lyotropic liquid crystal phases as do nanocrystalline (nanocellulose) suspensions. Other examples include DNA and Kevlar, which dissolve in sulfuric acid to give a lyotropic phase. It is noted that in these cases the solvent acts to lower the melting point of the materials thereby enabling the liquid crystalline phases to be accessible. These liquid crystalline phases are closer in architecture to thermotropic liquid crystalline phases than to the conventional lyotropic phases. In contrast to the behaviour of amphiphilic molecules, the lyotropic behaviour of the rod-like molecules does not involve self-assembly.