Liquid crystal composites with a high percentage of gold nanoparticles

We have reported in our previous work that doping low concentrations (up to 10% by weight) of gold nanoparticles (GNP) in a polar nematic 4’-hexyl-4-biphenylcarbonitrile (HBPCN) increases the dielectric anisotropy, while the switching voltage and times, and the nematic–isotropic liquid (IL) transition point of the mixtures are not affected by doped nanoparticles. In the current work we extend our study of the behaviour of HBPCN doped with higher than 10% GNP. We show that at certain gold concentrations – 35% and 45% – the nematic–IL phase transition point increases by 15°C in comparison with the pure nematic value. At the same concentrations the dielectric anisotropy increases from its value for the pure nematic by about 2.2 times for 35% and twice for 45%. Also, the threshold voltage increases by 0.2 V for 35% and decreases by 0.15 V for 45%. However, the switching-off times decrease for both concentrations: 7 ms for 35% and 12 ms for 45%. We propose that the described effects of doped GNP on the properties of the nematic are due to the formation of different kinds of aggregations between two components of the mixtures.     

Optical and Calorimetrical Studies of Liquid Crystalline Materials Doped with Nanoparticles

Summary: Electro-optical properties of Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal (PDLC) films doped with different nanoparticles (NPs), as well as optical and morphological properties of liquid crystal/NP mixtures have been investigated. PDLC films were prepared by UV irradiation of thiol-ene monomers and liquid crystal E7 in the presence of a small amount (0.5 and 1 wt.%) of nanoparticles. The presence of NP strongly influence the properties of liquid crystal/NP mixtures. In particular, adding nanoparticles results in a decrease of the glass and nematic-isotropic transition temperatures of the LC, suggesting that strong interactions occur between LC and nanoparticles.     

Simultaneous Voltammetric Determination of Benzene,Toluene and Xylenes (BTX) in Water Using a Cathodically Pre‐treated Boron‐doped Diamond Electrode

An electrochemical method for the simultaneous determination of benzene, toluene and xylenes (BTX) in water was developed using square‐wave voltammetry (SWV). The determination of BTX was carried out using a cathodically pre‐treated boron‐doped diamond electrode (BDD) using 0.1 mol L^?1 H₂SO₄ as supporting electrolyte. In the SWV measurements using the BDD, the oxidation peak potentials of the total xylenes‐toluene and toluene‐benzene couples, present in ternary mixtures, display separations of about 100 and 200 mV, respectively. The attained detection limits for the simultaneous determination of benzene, toluene and total xylenes were 3.0×10^?7, 8.0×10^?7 and 9.1×10^?7 mol L^?1, respectively. The recovery values taken in ternary mixtures of benzene, toluene and total xylenes in aqueous solutions are 98.9 %, 99.2 % and 99.4 %, respectively.     

Effect of functionalised silver nanoparticle on the elastic constants and ionic transport of a nematic liquid crystal

ABSTRACT

Addition of nanomaterial into pure nematic liquid crystals (NLCs) leads to improvement in the various physical properties of the liquid crystal (LC) host. Doping of nanomaterials affects the local molecular arrangement of the LC molecules. Here, we present the results of our investigation on the effect of functionalised silver nanoparticles (f-AgNPs) on the physical properties of the rod-shaped NLC, 4-trans-pentyl-cyclohexyl cyanobenzene (5PCH). The dielectric constant, threshold voltage, elastic constants, birefringence and conductivity measurements were performed on pure 5PCH and its f-AgNPs doped nanocomposites as a function of temperature in planar cell. The magnitude of dielectric anisotropy, elastic constants and birefringence in nanocomposites were enhanced with increasing concentration of f-AgNPs indicating enhancement of order parameter in the nematic medium. Threshold voltage decreases with increasing concentration of f-AgNPs. Both parallel and perpendicular components of conductivity decrease with increasing concentration of f-AgNPs due to the absorption of ion by the doped f-AgNPs. This observed decrease in conductivity in nanocomposites is further confirmed by calculating the ion transportation number and time of flight. The ion transport number i.e ionic contribution present in the LC cell was found to be 0.966 in pure 5PCH, whereas 0.830 in 0.5 wt% of f-AgNPs nanocomposite of 5PCH.     

Influence of Cu6PS5І superionic nanoparticles on the dielectric properties of 6СВ liquid crystal

Influence of Cu₆PS₅? nanoparticles on the dielectric properties of planarly oriented 6СВ liquid crystal (LC) is studied in the 10–10⁶-Hz frequency range. Introduction of the nanoparticles is shown to result in an increase of the electric conductivity. Contrary to 6СНВТ LC, the conductivity monotonously depends on the nanoparticles’ concentration. The main reason of the much greater influence of Cu₆PS₅? nanoparticles on the 6СВ conductivity in comparison with 6СНВТ is related to a greater dissociation coefficient of Cu₆PS₅? in 6СВ than in 6СНВТ. This is confirmed by the fact that the dipole moment of the 6СВ molecules is greater than that of the 6СНВТ molecules.     

Liquid crystal mixtures for potential infrared applications

Liquid crystals (LCs) with diazo linkages have high dielectric and optical anisotropy. Two newly synthesized liquid crystalline compounds were dissolved in room temperature LC hosts, E7 and PTTP-24/36, to assess their properties. It was found that these mixtures have higher birefringence, larger dielectric anisotropy, and better elastic properties than the hosts. Satisfactory viscoelastic coefficients were also obtained for these mixtures, showing that they are promising LC materials for applications in the near IR region.     

Liquid crystal mixtures for potential infrared applications

Liquid crystals (LCs) with diazo linkages have high dielectric and optical anisotropy. Two newly synthesized liquid crystalline compounds were dissolved in room temperature LC hosts, E7 and PTTP-24/36, to assess their properties. It was found that these mixtures have higher birefringence, larger dielectric anisotropy, and better elastic properties than the hosts. Satisfactory viscoelastic coefficients were also obtained for these mixtures, showing that they are promising LC materials for applications in the near IR region.     

Structural,thermal, dielectric and optical behaviour investigations of water-free ZnO/lyotropic liquid crystal nanocolloids

ABSTRACT

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles of spherical symmetry (average size of ≈ 20 nm) have been synthesised via a non-aqueous lyotropic liquid crystalline (LLC) templating process. Lyotropic liquid crystalline nanocolloids are prepared via dispersing 0.05, 0.1 and 0.5 wt.% ZnO nanoparticles in non-aqueous lyotropic phase. No structural phase change has been seen with the doping of nanoparticles as stable lamellar phases are observed in all the cases. Stability of the lamellar structure and orientation of the ZnO nanoparticles in the liquid crystalline matrix may be attributed to the interfacial surface charge interactions. A significant increase and pronounced dispersion in dielectric permittivity of the ZnO/LLC nanocolloids could be the result of parallel coupling among guest/host, higher dipole- moment of the ZnO nanoparticles and Maxwell-Wagner polarisation. The variation of relaxation parameters has also been discussed and correlated with the dielectric and structural parameters. ZnO/lyotropic nanocolloids devices exhibit dc conductivity of the order of 10^?5S/m owing to the increase in the number of ions (of the order of 10¹⁹m^?3) in the doped systems. Nanocolloids exhibits, the refractive index of range 1.40 to 1.45 and the wide bandgap of the range 4.1–4.5 eV.     

Nematic nanocomposites with enhanced optical birefringence

The proper performance of electro-optical devices utilising liquid crystals (LCs) requires materials with high diffraction efficiency, i.e. with high optical/dielectric anisotropy, low threshold voltage and fast switching. One can achieve increase of dielectric anisotropy by using chemical synthesis or mixing LC materials. However, in most cases, this causes an increase in the threshold voltage and switching times. Therefore obtaining materials with high dielectric anisotropy and keeping threshold voltage and switching times low is a challenging task. We achieved promising results by making binary mixtures of a polar nematic LC 4'-hexyl-4-biphenylcarbonitrile (HBPCN) with low percentage (1–10% by weight) gold nanoparticles. We report that for the mixtures with 1% and 2% gold the dielectric anisotropy increases by 100% and the birefringence by about 50% of their values for pure nematic. We also report that the increase of the dielectric anisotropy in the mixtures only slightly affects threshold voltage and switching times. We propose that this increase is caused by cluster formation in the mixtures.     

Effective Permittivity of a Multi-Phase System: Nanoparticle-Doped Polymer-Dispersed Liquid Crystal Films

This paper studies the effective dielectric properties of heterogeneous materials of the type particle inclusions in a host medium, using the Maxwell Garnet and the Bruggeman theory. The results of the theories are applied at polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) films, nanoparticles (NP)-doped LCs, and developed for NP-doped PDLC films. The effective permittivity of the composite was simulated at sufficiently high frequency, where the permittivity is constant, obtaining results on its dependency on the constituents’ permittivity and concentrations. The two models are compared and discussed. The method used for simulating the doped PDLC retains its general character and can be applied for other similar multiphase composites. The methods can be used to calculate the effective permittivity of a LC composite, or, in the case of a composite in which one of the phases has an unknown permittivity, to extract it from the measured composite permittivity. The obtained data are necessary in the design of the electrical circuits.     

Electrical properties of LiBBaTe glass doped with Nd2O3

The dc and ac electrical conductivity of barium tellurite borate glass doped with Nd₂O₃ in the composition 50 B₂O₃- (20-X) BaO- 20TeO₂ 10 LiF or Li₂O where x = 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 Nd₂O₃ were measured in the temperature range 303–648 K and in the frequency range 0.1–100 kHz. The dc and ac conductivities values increase, whereas the activation energy of conductivities decreases with increasing Nd₂O₃ content in the glasses containing LiF and by the replacement of LiF by Li₂O the conductivity was found to decrease with addition of Nd₂O₃. The electrical conduction has been observed to be due to small polaron hopping at high temperatures. The frequency dependence of the ac conductivity follows the power law σ_AC (ω) = A ω^s. The frequency exponent (s) values (in the range 0.94 and 0.33) decreases with increasing temperature. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss increased with increasing temperature and decreased with increase in frequency for all glasses studied. In LiF glasses, it is observed that, the values of ?^\ and tan δ are observed to increase with the addition of Nd₂O₃ whereas they decrease in the glasses containing Li₂O. The electrical modulus formalism has been used for studying electrical relaxation behavior in studied glasses. It is for first time that the Nd₂O₃ doped barium tellurite borate glasses have been investigated for dc and ac conductivities and dielectric properties over a wide range of frequency and temperature.     

Dielectric and orientation effects of ‘classical’ and supramolecular liquid crystals self-assembly

Fragments of phase diagrams of binary systems containing 4-pentyloxy-4?-cyanobiphenyl (5OCB) and 4-(ω-hydroxyalkyloxy)-4?-cyanobiphenyl (HO3OCB, HO6OCB and HO9OCB) were obtained. The temperature range expansion of the nematic phase at mixing of the components was established. The dielectric and optical properties of binary mixtures were studied. A significant increase in the dielectric anisotropy was observed when the ‘classical’ liquid crystal (LC) was mixed with supramolecular HOnOCB. From the data on birefringence and the ¹H NMR spectra, temperature dependences of the orientational order parameter of the ‘classical’ LC + supramolecular LC systems were obtained. There is a good agreement between S values obtained by independent methods. The invariability of the order parameter at mixing 5OCB with HO3OCB and HO9OCB and some growth in systems containing HO6OCB were observed. On the basis of quantum chemical calculations, the analysis of the most probable types of components association in the systems 5ОСВ + HOnOCB was carried out. From the analysis of Kirkwood correlation factors, the main role of competition between the two mechanisms of intermolecular interaction was revealed.     

Unstirred preparation of soluble electroconductive polypyrrole nanoparticles

Soluble electro-conductive polypyrrole nanoparticles (PPY-NPs) doped with organic sulfonic acid can be easily prepared via a new method for unstirred polymerization. The yield, size, morphology, electrical conductivity and solubility of the PPY-NPs were optimized by changing the feeding oxidant method, the sulfonic acid, the oxidant, and steric stabilizers. The PPY-NPs were characterized by FTIR, wide angle X-ray diffraction and four-point probe techniques. The morphology of the nanoparticles was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy. The PPY-NPs doped with p-toluenesulfonic acid exhibit a small diameter, an electrical bulk conductivity of 52.7 S·cm^?1, and can be obtained in high yield. PPY-NPs doped with naphthalene-2-sulfonic acid have a minimum mean diameter of around 71 nm (as found by SEM). All doped PPY-NPs are well solube in dimethylformamide, dimethyl sulfoxide, formic acid and sulfuric acid.     

室温离子液体增塑的纳米复合聚合物电解质研究

在室温离子液体N-乙基-N'-甲基咪唑四氟硼酸盐(EMIBF₄)增塑的凝胶聚合物电解质中加入氧化铝纳米粒子, 制备了一种纳米复合聚合物电解质(nanocomposite polymer electrolyte, NCPE). 通过示差扫描量热(DSC)、X射线衍射(XRD)、热重分析(TGA)、电化学阻抗谱(EIS)等手段对其进行了表征. 结果显示, 随着氧化铝纳米粒子含量的增加, NCPE的结晶度降低, 离子导电率升高. 但是, 纳米粒子的加入量过大时反而引起NCPE的离子导电率降低. 当纳米粒子填充量为w＝10%时, NCPE具有最高的室温离子导电率1.25×10^－3 S•cm^－1.     

Liquid crystal alignment property of n‐alkylthiomethyl‐ or n‐alkylsulfonylmethyl‐substituted polystyrenes

We synthesized a series of n‐alkylthiomethyl‐substituted polystyrenes (#T‐PS, # = 4, 8, 12, and 16) and n‐alkylsulfonylmethyl‐substituted polystyrenes (#S‐PS, # = 4, 8, 12, and 16), where # is the number of carbon atoms in the n‐alkyl side group of the polymers, using polymer analogous reactions to investigate their liquid crystal (LC) alignment properties. In general, the LC cell fabricated using the polymer film having a longer n‐alkyl side group, a thioether linkage group, and a higher molar content of n‐alkyl side group showed homeotropic LC alignment behavior with a pretilt angle of about 90°. The homeotropic alignment behavior was well correlated with the surface energy of the polymer films; when the positive dielectric anisotropic LC (ZLI‐5900‐000 from Merck) and negative dielectric anisotropic LC (MLC‐7026‐000 from Merck) were used to fabricate the LC cells, homeotropic alignment was observed when the surface energy values of the polymer were smaller than about 25 and 32 mJ/m², respectively. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Superior electro-optic properties of liquid crystal system using cobalt oxide nanoparticle dispersion

In this article, we study the electro-optical (EO) properties of the homogeneous aligned nematic liquid crystal (N-LC) doped with cobalt oxide (Co₃O₄) nanoparticles (NPs). The EO characteristics of Co₃O₄ doped N-LC are higher performance, indicating lower threshold voltage (1.33 V), faster rising time (1.479 ms), and faster falling time (9.343 ms) than pure liquid crystal (LC) cells. We have demonstrated these results by investigating the relationship between dielectric constants and LC device properties. Furthermore, we proved NPs doped N-LC cells drive low power operation without capacitance hysteresis. Our experimental results were verified by software simulation based on general physical properties.     

Enzymatic Synthesis of Semiconductor Polymers by Chloroperoxidase of Caldariomyces fumago

Among intrinsically conducting polymers, polyaniline is traditionally synthesized by chemical or electrochemical methods. Recently enzymatic synthesis of conducting polymers has been explored. In this work, polymers were synthesized using chloroperoxidase from Caldariomyces fumago and substituted anilines such as 2,6-dimethylaniline, 2,6-dichloroaniline, and 2,3,5,6-tetrachloroaniline (TCA), in order to promote a linear polymerization. These polymers were doped with (1S)-(+)-10-camphorsulfonic acid, dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid, and 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid (AMPSA) with molar ratios of 1:0.25 and 1:0.5. Doped polymers showed conductivity corresponding to the semiconductors. TCA polymer doped with AMPSA showed the higher conductivity values. Different AMPSA concentrations have been tested, and the highest conductivity value of 1.6?×?10^?2?S?m^?1 was obtained for the complex with molar ratio of 1:0.5. This value is similar to those found with other substituted anilines with sulfonic groups. In addition, the enzymatically synthesized polymeric film showed combined transparency and semiconducting properties.     

New Preparation Method of Nanocrystalline Materials by Impulse Plasma in Liquid

A new method to fabricate nanomaterials by using Impulse Plasma in Liquid is presented. Impulse plasma appears from inter-electrode space break-down in high potential difference between two electrodes submerged into a dielectric liquid, while the power supply is relatively small that is insufficient to excite an arc discharge. By changing the dielectric liquid, we can obtain metallic particles, oxides, carbides. This method does not require vacuum chamber and high energy, thus, can provide economical preparation of various types of nanomaterials. Nanocrystalline powder of titanium oxide was prepared using purified water as a dielectric liquid. Metallic nanoparticles of ytterbium, silver and copper were also prepared by the impulse plasma between a pair of the same material electrodes submerged in styrene. In addition, fullerene C₆₀ was synthesized by the impulse plasma in toluene. Nanoparticles of TiC, WC, TaC were also synthesized by the impulse plasma in styrene.     

Dielectric properties of sols of silver nanoparticles capped by alkyl carboxylate ligands

Sols of silver nanoparticles in toluene were studied by broadband dielectric spectroscopy (10⁻³–10⁵ Hz). The frequency dependences of the specific alternating current (ac) conductivity and the complex electric modulus were used to estimate the temperature/frequency intervals of long- and short-range charge transfer occurs, respectively. A considerable increase (by more than 30 °C) in the Vogel temperature T ₀ and the glass transition temperature T _g in sols compared with the pure solvent was found. It can be hypothesized that these cooperative effects reflect the initial stage of the superlattice formation. Although the dielectric characteristics of sols are generally controlled by the conductivity relaxation, the dielectric response was observed in the high-frequency range (1–10³ Hz) at low temperatures (from −50 to +10 °C). This response results from the presence of nanoparticles in solution. It is supposed that the relaxation is caused by the motion of ion impurities on the Ag nanoparticle surface within the carboxylate ligands shell. The dielectric properties of films strongly depend on both the characteristics of nanoparticles and the conditions of the film preparation. Like in sols, the direct current (dc) conductivity and the dielectric response of Ag nanoparticles in films are due to ion impurities.