Optical and morphological characterization of polyacrylamide hydrogel and liquid crystal systems

In this work, the thermotropic liquid crystal MBBA (N-(4-methoxybenzilidene)-4-butylaniline), entrapped on hydrogels, based on cross-linked polyacrylamide (PAAm), was studied. The liquid crystalline phases of system were characterized by polarized optical microscopy (POM), refractive index, optical transmittance, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and water loss. It was verified the presence of birefringence on hydrogel + liquid crystal. The dynamic of formation of such birefringence finished 40 days after the hydrogel synthesis. The effective birefringence Δn, i.e., the difference on refractive index of polyacrylamide hydrogel to refractive index of hydrogel + liquid crystal (Δn₁) and the difference on refractive index of liquid crystal (MBBA) to refractive index of hydrogel + liquid crystal (Δn₂) are dependent of content of acrylamide (AAm) and MBBA on hydrogel. The increase on Δn₁ and Δn₂ with the polyacrylamide content on hydrogel was attributed to decreasing of the mobility liquid crystal inside the hydrogel. Also, an increase on MBBA concentration in the polymeric matrix provides a reduction in the values of optical transmittance in the system. The morphology observed by SEM shows that hydrogel + liquid crystal is more compact that PAAm hydrogels. The presence of MBBA causes an increase in hydrophobicity. The water loss speed is favored by the increase in the amount of MBBA present in the hydrogels.