Birefringence study on lyotropic micellar nematic phase in a binary mixture

We report the results of our studies on optical and thermal properties of two non-mesogenic compounds, namely, didodecyl dimethyl ammonium bromide (DDAB) and glacial acetic acid. The mixture exhibits schlieren texture of lyotropic micellar nematic (N_D), SmA, SmB, and SmG phases, respectively, at different concentrations of DDAB sequentially when the specimen is cooled from isotropic phase. The order parameter (S) of lyotropic micellar nematic (N_D) phase is estimated with the help of temperature dependence of optical anisotropy from the measured values of refractive index and density data. The temperature variation of order parameter of the experimental curve is in agreement with the Mayer–Saupe theoretical curve. The formation of the above phases has been confirmed by optical studies.     

Molecular orientation of lyotropic nematic phase in a mixture of two non-mesogenic compounds

We report the results of our studies on the optical and thermal properties of the mixture of two non-mesogenic compounds, namely, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and glacial acetic acid (GAA). The mixture exhibits very interesting schlieren texture of lyotropic micellar nematic (N_D) phase, SmA and SmB phases, respectively, at different concentrations of SDS in GAA sequentially when the specimen is cooled from its isotropic phase. The order parameter (S) of the lyotropic micellar nematic (N_D) phase is estimated with the help of temperature dependence of optical anisotropy from the measured values of refractive index and density data. The experimental curve showing the temperature variation of order parameter is very well fitted with the Mayer–Saupe theoretical curve. X-ray studies have also been discussed. The formation of the above phases has been confirmed by optical and differential scanning calorimetry studies.     

Micellar shape anisotropy on lyotropic nematic phases

In this work we show, that with the introduction of the micellar shape anisotropy in the order parameter of a lyotropic liquid crystal, it is possible to understand, in a unified way, the features observed in the phase diagram of these materials. Using the de Gennes connection between microscopic and macroscopic order parameters, such an extended order parameter is constructed from a geometrical conception of the micelles. Our theoretical results will be correlated with refractive index experimental data near the uniaxial-biaxial nematic phase transitions of a lyotropic mixture of potassium laurate, decanol and deuterium oxide.     

Chromonic liquid crystalline phase transition involving a biphasic region of nematic and hexagonal phases

We report the results of our studies on the optical and thermal properties of binary mixture of two compounds viz. abietic acid and poly ethylene glycol (PEG). The mixture shows a very interesting co-existent biphasic region of lyotropic nematic (N + I) and intermediate hexagonal (M + I) phases, sequentially when the specimen is cooled from its isotropic phase at different concentrations of abietic acid in PEG. The aggregated molecular size has been confirmed by X-ray studies. The temperature variation of optical anisotropy, electrical conductivity, ultrasonic velocity, and molar and adiabatic compressibility has also been discussed.     

Reentrant isotropic-calamitic nematic phase transition in potassium laurate-decanol- D<Subscript>2</Subscript>O mixtures

The phase diagram is an interesting field of research, particularly in lyotropic liquid crystals (LLC). In this way, one of the most important phase diagrams of this LLC system was reported by Yu and Saupe. Two uniaxial (calamitic--N(C) and discotic--N(D)) and one biaxial nematic (N(B)) phases were determined by these authors. Furthermore, in this phase diagram the classical isotropic phase (I was observed at high temperature as well as a reentrant isotropic phase (I(RE)) which takes place at lower temperature. Later, this phase diagram was also studied by several authors and in all cases the I(RE)-N(C)-I phase transitions were not observed. In this work, we present a study of this phase diagram through digital image processing and refractometry optical techniques. The occurrence of these phase transitions is investigated and characterized. In addition, the order parameter is obtained based on the Vuks hypothesis from a particular point, in the range of the N(C) phase, where the absolute value of the optical birefringence (Deltan is maximum.     

Light transmission at the uniaxial-biaxial lyotropic nematics phase transitions

Results are reported on light transmission versus the temperature near the phase transitions between lyotropic nematics. Strong pretransitional effects are observed when the phase transitions occur between biaxial nematic and uniaxial phases. The light is strongly depolarized both at the calamitic-biaxial and at biaxial-discotic phase transitions. The results are qualitatively explained.     

The formation of biaxial nematic phases in binary mixtures of thermotropic liquid-crystals composed of uniaxial molecules

ABSTRACT

Monte Carlo simulations in the isothermal-isobaric ensemble are used to investigate the formation of an ordered, biaxial nematic phase in a binary mixture of thermotropic liquid crystals. The orientational dependence of the interaction between molecules of each pure component is the same as in the well-known Maier-Saupe model; each pure component of the mixture is therefore capable of forming a uniaxial nematic phase. For the interaction between molecules of different components, we use the same Maier-Saupe model but change the sign of the coupling constant. As a consequence a T-shaped arrangement of these molecules is energetically favoured. The formation of the biaxial phase occurs in two steps. At higher temperatures T, one of the components forms a uniaxial nematic phase whereas the other is in a quasi two-dimensional restricted isotropic liquid state. We develop a simple theoretical model to understand the high degree of (ostensible) nematic order in the latter. At lower T, the second component becomes nematic and then the entire mixture of the two compounds has biaxial symmetry. The biaxial nematic phase does not demix into domains rich in molecules of one or the other species.     

Spin nematic and antinematic states in a spin-3/2 isotropic non-Heisenberg magnet

The ground state phase diagram of a general isotropic spin-3/2 system with nearest-neighbor exchange is shown to contain unconventionally ordered spin nematic and antinematic states, as well as usual ferro- and antiferromagnetic phases. The two nematic phases have spontaneously broken rotational symmetry characterized by the long-range order of the nematic director u, as well as the broken time-reversal symmetry described by the pseudospin vector σ. Nematic phase differs from antinematic one by the type of ordering in σ vectors (uniform versus staggered). The ferromagnet-nematic and antiferromagnet-antinematic phase boundaries exhibit enhanced Sp(4) symmetry and correspond to the recently studied effective theory for spin-3/2 cold gases. We discuss optical properties and topological defects in the nematic phases.     

Deuterium NMR investigation of the biaxial nematic phase in an organosiloxane tetrapode

Deuterium NMR is used to examine the molecular order exhibited by an organosiloxane tetrapode giving the first experimental evidence, using a bulk sample, for the existence of a biaxial nematic phase in this type of compounds. The temperature dependence of the averaged quadrupolar coupling constant and asymmetry parameter was determined in the compound's nematic phase. Two distinct regimes could be identified, one with a vanishing asymmetry parameter corresponding to a uniaxial nematic phase and another with a significant temperature dependent asymmetry parameter, corresponding to a biaxial nematic phase. The high values obtained for the asymmetry parameter at the lower end of the nematic range are well above experimental error and constitute a definite proof of the biaxial nature of the nematic phase exhibited by the studied compound for those temperatures.     

Optical properties of lyotropic mesophases

Summary A brief review of early studies of optical properties of lyotropic mesophases is presented. New results about refractive-index measurements in various phases of a ternary system are shown. Emphasis is given to the optical properties of the different lyotropic nematic mesophases. Finally a short review is then devoted to the optical effects of external applied fields such as magnetic, electric and mechanical ones. Associated to the GNCL (National Discussion Group on Liquid Crystals) and supported by the GNSM of the National Research Council.     

Influence of dipole-dipole correlations on the stability of the biaxial nematic phase in the model bent-core liquid crystal

A molecular theory of biaxial nematic ordering in the system of bent-core molecules has been developed in the two-particle cluster approximation which enables one to take into account short-range polar correlations determined by both electrostatic dipole-dipole interaction and polar molecular shape. All orientational order parameters and short-range correlation functions are calculated numerically as functions of temperature in the uniaxial and in the biaxial nematic phases, and the results are compared with the ones obtained in the mean-field approximation and in the cluster approximation but without taking into consideration the dipole-dipole interaction. It is shown that short-range polar correlations and, in particular, the dipole-dipole correlations dramatically increase the temperature of the transition into the biaxial nematic phase and enhancing its stability range. The results are also very sensitive to the value of the opening angle of a model bent-core molecule.     

Thermotropic biaxial nematic phase in liquid crystalline organo-siloxane tetrapodes

Infrared absorbance measurements have been carried out on two liquid crystalline organo-siloxane tetrapodes. Results unambiguously show the existence of a biaxial nematic phase below a uniaxial nematic phase. The three components of IR absorbance are used to calculate the various order parameters. On cooling, a weak first-order transition from isotropic to nematic is observed, followed by a second-order phase transition to biaxial nematic where the biaxiality parameters are found to be significantly large. Results are supported by observations from conoscopy and texture. Temperature dependences of the order parameters are well explained by the mean-field model for a biaxial phase.     

Ringed spherulitic and undulated textures in the nematic phase of a mixture of trans-4-hexylcyclohexanecarboxilic and benzoic acids

We present a polarizing optical microscopy study of a liquid-crystal mixture of trans-4-hexylcyclohexanecarboxilic (C6) and benzoic acids. Both materials have carboxylic groups that can form dimers through hydrogen bonding. The mixture is nematic at room temperature and has the clearing point at 88°C. The nematic phase shows ringed spherulites, sometimes looking like spiral structures, and undulated textures, which remain visible when heating the sample till 71°C. This is the temperature of a texture transition inside the nematic phase.     

The elusive thermotropic biaxial nematic phase in rigid bent-core molecules

The biaxial nematic liquid crystalline phase was predicted several decades ago. Several vigorous attempts to find it in various systems resulted in mis-identifications. The results of X-ray diffraction and optical texture studies of the phases exhibited by rigid bent-core molecules derived from 2,5-bis-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-l,3,4-oxadiazole reveal that the biaxial nematic phase is formed by three compounds of this type. X-ray diffraction studies reveal that the nematic phase of these compounds has the achiral symmetry D_2h, in which the overall long axes of the molecules are oriented parallel to each other to define the major axis of the biaxial phase. The apex of the bent-cores defines the minor axis of this phase along which the planes containing the bent-cores of neighboring molecules are oriented parallel to each other.     

Effects of fields and anchoring on biaxial nematic ordering

Symmetry of a nematic liquid crystal phase is broken by an anchoring wall and also by an external field. Nematic system sandwiched between biaxial anchoring walls is introduced as a correspondent to a bulk nematic system exposed to a couple of fields, an electric field and a magnetic one in directions perpendicular to each other, and thermal behaviours of the system are studied. The crossover between a homeotropic structure and homogeneous one occurs, similarly to the bulk system in the fields, in which the anchoring condition of coexistence is shown to have the same expression as the one at the bulk. As to a characteristic phenomenon at the sandwiched system, it is proved that an appearance of a biaxial nematic order suppresses a uniaxial nematic order. A surface transition, i.e., a wetting phenomenon is shown to occur also in the biaxial nematics, even though the uniaxial order is suppressed therein.     

Spectral features of a nematic liquid crystal consisting of biaxial molecules with internal rotation

Expressions for the components of the optical permittivity tensor of a nematic liquid crystal consisting of biaxial π-conjugated molecules with a conformational degree of freedom (internal rotation) are obtained. A relationship between the intensity and dichroism of absorption bands in isotropic and nematic phases and the parameters of conformational, orientational, and mixed conformational and orientational orders of the molecules is established. A distribution function for the molecules is obtained that takes into account the mutual correlation of their conformational and orientational degrees of freedom. The effect of this correlation on the above-noted order parameters, the dichroism of the absorption bands, and the dependence of the measured oscillator strengths of molecular transitions on the character and degree of orientational order of biaxial molecules is studied. On the basis of comparison with experimental data, the relative role of different terms in the distribution function that are responsible for the correlation between the conformational and orientational degrees of freedom of the molecules is ascertained.     

Biaxial surface order dynamics in calamitic nematics

Thermotropic nematic materials relax strong distortions by lowering the nematic order: the uniaxial symmetry is broken and is locally replaced by biaxial domains. We investigated the dynamics of the nematic order near a boundary surface of an asymmetric π-cell submitted to an external electric field, close to the electric order reconstruction threshold. An unexpected phenomenon is observed close, but below the threshold: the biaxial order spreads on the surface inducing a consequent bulk topological behaviour equivalent to the splay-bend fast transition allowed by order reconstruction at higher voltage.     

External magnetic field-dependent tricritical points of uniaxial-to-biaxial nematic transition

External magnetic field-dependent behavior of tricritical points of uniaxial–biaxial nematic phase transition in a mixture of prolate and oblate molecules has been studied using the Landau phenomenological theory. Topological classification of phase diagrams in the field-temperature coordinates is performed using a sixth-order term in order parameter tensor. For both prolate and oblate molecules, the tricritical order parameters corresponding to the uniaxial–biaxial increase with the intensity of the external magnetic field. Field-induced paranematic phase has only been reported for prolate molecules, but for oblate molecules, field-induced splitting of the order parameter has been reported.     

弹性形变对丝状相液晶相变的影响

应用Saupe形式的弹性自由能,研究了简单的扭曲,展曲和弯曲形变对相变的影响.结果表明,弹性形变可以产生从各向同性相至双轴丝状相的一级相变,对螺状相液晶,当系统手征性增加并超过某一临界值时,一级相变可过渡到二级相变. 关键词：