Three in one : mesogenic aromatic acid as a liquid crystal matrix, a chiral dopant in liquid crystals and a stabilizer for nanoparticles

Studies of thermodynamics of the N*-I phase transitions and optical properties of the new liquid crystal - (R)-2-[4″-(trans-4-butylcyclohexyl)-2′-chloro-p-terphenyl-4-oxy] propanoic acid are carried out. The aim of these studies is to analyze the capabilities of that liquid crystal to simultaneously serve as a matrix for inorganic semiconductor nanoparticles (NP) as well as a chiral dopant for liquid crystals and a chiral ligand stabilizing the surface of CdSe NPs. The chiral doping of a nematic liquid crystal was proven by the measurements of selective transmittance of the visible light. The embedding of NPs in a nematic liquid crystal leads to the increase in TN⁎I, which is explained by the shape anisotropy of the NPs. The anisotropy of the ligand shell may result from the interaction between the ligand and LC matrix inducing the change of the spherical shape of the shell toward the ellipsoidal one. TN⁎I of the liquid crystal matrix of (R)-2-[4″-(trans-4-butylcyclohexyl)-2′-chloro-p-terphenyl-4-oxy] propanoic acid (R-MPA) decreases with the embedding of NPs stabilized by the same ligands, which is in a good agreement with prior experimental results and theory, but there exists a considerable quantitative difference

Phase separation effects and the nematic-isotropic transition in polymer and low molecular weight liquid crystals doped with nanoparticles

Properties of the nematic–isotropic phase transition in polymer and low molecular weight liquid crystals doped with nanoparticles have been studied both experimentally and theoretically in terms of molecular mean-field theory. The variation of the transition temperature and the transition heat with the increasing volume fraction of CdSe quantum dot nanoparticles in copolymer and low molecular weight nematics has been investigated experimentally and the data are interpreted using the results of the molecular theory which accounts for a possibility of phase separation when the system undergoes the nematic–isotropic transition. The theory predicts that the nematic and isotropic phases with different concentrations of nanoparticles may coexist over a broad temperature range, but only if the nanoparticle volume fraction exceeds a certain threshold value which depends on the material parameters. Such unusual phase separation effects are determined by the strong interaction between nanoparticles and mesogenic groups and between nanoparticles themselves

New insights into the nature of semi-soft elasticity and “mechanical-Fréedericksz transitions” in liquid crystal elastomers

The mechanical properties of an all-acrylate Liquid Crystal Elastomer (LCE) with a glass transition of 14±1°C are reported. The highly nonlinear load curve has a characteristic shape associated with semi-soft elasticity (SSE). Conversely, measurements of the director orientation throughout tensile loading instead indicate a “mechanical-Fréedericksz” transition (MFT). Values of the step length anisotropy, r, are independently calculated from the theories of SSE (r= 3.2±0.4), MFT (9.3<r<30.0) and thermally-induced length change (r=3.8±0.5). From simultaneously recorded polarising microscopy textures, the consequences of the above discrepancies are considered. Further, a mechanically-induced negative order parameter is observed. Results show the tensile load curve shape cannot solely be used to determine the underlying physics. Consequently, the LCE properties cannot be fully described by theories of SSE or MFTs alone. This suggests that the theory of LCEs is not yet complete. The conclusions suggest that both the LC order parameter and r must be functions of the mechanical deformation

Stabilization of gold nanospheres and nanorods in diblock copolymers of styrene and vinylpyridine

Composites based on microphase-separated diblock copolymers of styrene with vinylpyridine and gold nanoparticles, in which the block copolymers play simultaneously both the role of a stabilizer preventing the aggregation of nanoparticles and a matrix providing their selective arrangement within domains of the predefined type, are obtained for the first time. The suggested approach implies no use of additional stabilizers and is efficient for both initially organic dispersed small (~5 nm) spheres and hydrasols of larger (9 × 30 nm) rodlike nanoparticles. Nanospheres are introduced into the composites via replacement of a labile stabilizer used in synthesis with the diblock copolymer, while nanorods synthesized in aqueous media by the two-stage method are incorporated via phase transfer mediated by the diblock copolymer. Films capable of microphase separation leading to the formation of vinylpyridine cylindrical domains with a diameter of tens nanometers are spin-coated from the obtained composites. The content of nanoparticles in the composites is up to 5 wt %; they are dispersed and arranged predominantly within vinylpyridine domains, with nanospheres being localized near domain boundaries, while nanorods being mainly oriented perpendicularly to the axis of cylinders