The present invention provides a series of new chemical compounds, lyotropic liquid crystal systems, materials, blends, mixtures, namely acenaphtho[1,2-b]quinoxaline sulfoderivatives of the general structural formula: ##STR00001## wherein n is an integer in the range of 1 to 4; m is an integer in the range of 0 to 4; z is an integer in the range of 0 to 6, and m+z+n.ltoreq.10; X and Y are individually selected from the group consisting of CH.sub.3, C.sub.2H.sub.5, OCH.sub.3, OC.sub.2H.sub.5, Cl, Br, OH, OCOCH.sub.3NH.sub.2, NHCOCH.sub.3, NO.sub.2, F, CF.sub.3, CN, OCN, SCN, COOH, and CONH.sub.2; M is a counterion; and j is the number of counterions in the molecule.