Studies on the phase properties of lyotropic liquid crystals of Brij35/sodium oleate/oleic acid/water system: By means of polarizing microscope, SAXS, 2H-NMR and rheological methods

The pseudo-quaternary phase diagram of Brij35/sodium oleate/oleic acid/water systems has been investigated, and the liquid crystal area has been identified, which covers about two thirds of the whole phase diagram. The liquid crystal structure and behavior have been also studied by using polarizing texture, small angle X-ray scattering, ²H-NMR and rheometer etc. The result shows that when the composition of the system changes along the line of AA’ in this large liquid crystal region, the structural change is cubic→cubic/lamellar→lamellar→lamellar/hexagonal→hexagonal. Meanwhile, we made the first attempt of systematic study of the rheological properties of the above system. The lattice constants of cubic and hexagonal liquid crystals are 10.53 and 5.68 nm, respectively.