Preparation and Thermal Behavior of Freely-Suspended and Transferred Films Composed of a Single Compound, the Liquid Crystal 707PP

We have recently introduced a new method for the preparation of ultrathin smectic films on solid supports by transferring freely-suspended liquid-crystalline films [1, 2]. Here we report on the preparation, structural properties and thermal behavior of freely-suspended and transferred films of 2-(4'-Heptyloxyphenyl)-5-heptylpyridine (707PP). Freely-suspended and transferred films were investigated using optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Both types of films exhibit reversible phase transitions comparable to bulk values.

Photo-crosslinking in freely-suspended films of ferroelectric lc-polymers

The distribution of blood group antigens in rodent epithelia

The pattern of distribution of antigens cross-reacting with antibodies to human blood group antigens A and B and two precursor molecules was examined by immunofluorescence in the epidermis, oral mucosa and forestomach of rats and mice. Staining for blood group antigen A was negative. In all epithelia examined, blood group antigen B was present at the surface of basal and parabasal cells, and the H antigen at the surface of spinous cells. N-acetyllactosamine was present on the cell membranes in the upper spinous and granular cell layers of epidermis and forestomach epithelium and was not expressed in the oral epithelia except for a limited area in the dorsal tongue epithelium. Thus, the expr…

Highly-ordered ultrathin lc multilayer films on solid substrates

Freely-Suspended and Transferred Freely-Suspended Films of Polymeric Liquid Crystals

Freely-suspended (FS) liquid-crystal (LC) films of a polymethylsiloxane homo- and a copolymer with different mesogenic side groups have been prepared and investigated. For both substances the preparation of the films succeeded only in the isotropic phase but the higher ordered phases were reached after cooling. The films of the homopolymer have only been obtained with thicknesses estimated to be in the pm-range and with an unusual “Book-Shelf” orientation of the smectic layers. In contrast, the films of the copolymer were thinner and showed a homeotropic orientation of the mesogens in the smectic A phase. Interestingly, this material exhibited a different layer spacing in film and bulk, alt…