Abstract
We have studied the coupling interaction between liquid crystal (LC) molecules and nanoparticles (NPs) in LC=NPs mixtures. Using a simple phenomenological approach, possible structures of the coupling term are derived for strongly anisotropic NPs. The coupling terms include (i) an interaction term promoting the mutual ordering of the LC molecules and the NPs, and (ii) the Flory-Huggins-type term enforcing the phase separation. Both contributions exhibit the same scaling dependence on the diameter of the NPs. However, these terms only exist for a finite degree of nematic LC ordering. The magnetic response due to the LC-NPs coupling is probed experimentally for a mixture of weakly anisotropic magnetic NPs and a ferroelectric LC. A finite coupling effect was observed in the ferroelectric LC phase, suggesting such systems can be used as soft magnetoelectrics.
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Rožič, B. et al. (2010). Phase Ordering in Mixtures of Liquid Crystals and Nanoparticles. In: Rzoska, S., Drozd-Rzoska, A., Mazur, V. (eds) Metastable Systems under Pressure. NATO Science for Peace and Security Series A: Chemistry and Biology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3408-3_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3408-3_9
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