Search results for "Liquid crystals"
showing 10 items of 74 documents
Helix Inversion Controlled by Molecular Motors in Multistate Liquid Crystals.
2020
Unravelling the rules of molecular motion is a contemporary challenge that promises to support the development of responsive materials and is likely to enhance the understanding of functional motion. Advances in integrating light‐driven molecular motors in soft matter have led to the design and realization of chiral nematic (cholesteric) liquid crystals that can respond to light with modification of their helical pitch, and also with helix inversion. Under illumination, these chiral liquid crystals convert from one helical geometry to another. Here, a series of light‐driven molecular motors that feature a rich configurational landscape is presented, specifically which involves three stable …
Nanostructuring with a crosslinkable discotic material.
2007
A high-yielding synthesis afforded a hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene carrying acrylate units at the end of six attached alkyl spacers. The polymerization of these acrylate moieties could be initiated with thermal energy and through direct photoactivation without the addition of a photoinitiator. This allowed the organization of the liquid-crystalline material to be fixed in either the crystalline state or the mesophase, which preserved the organization in the respective phase. The use of a focused synchrotron beam permitted selected regions of a thin film to be rendered insoluble. After "developing" the film in this lithographic process by dissolving the soluble, unpolymerized material, defined…
Synthesis and physico-chemical characterization of gold nanoparticles softly coated by AOT
2006
Size-controlled gold nanoparticles/surfactant stable systems were prepared by the combined action of the solvated metal atom dispersion (SMAD) technique and confinement in anhydrous sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate (AOT) micellar solution. From liquid samples, by evaporation of the organic solvent, solid gold nanoparticle-surfactant liquid crystals composites were obtained. Sample characterization was performed by X-ray diffraction (SAXS and WAXS), XPS spectroscopy and UV-vis-NIR spectroscopy. All experimental data consistently revealed the coexistence of two gold nanoparticle size populations: bigger nanoparticles (size 20-50 angstrom) and smaller ones (size of few angstrom). The two…
Characterization of different regimes in nonlinear liquid crystal models
2012
[EN] The range of validity of two models for nonlocal nonlinear optics in Nematic Liquid Crystals (NLC) is studied. Particularly the influence of the optical power and the initial position of the beam over its trajectory is studied when launching the beam with an offset in a planar cell. The main difference between both models is the dependence of the orientational angle with the optical field, either linear or nonlinear. The results demonstrate the critical role of the nonlinearity in the propagation of nematicons in NLC planar cells. © 2012 World Scientific Publishing Company.
Mesomorphic and electrooptical properties of viologens based on non-symmetric alkyl/polyfluoroalkyl functionalization and on an oxadiazolyl-extended …
2019
Two different sets of ionic liquid crystals based on bistriflimide salts of non-symmetrically substituted polyfluorinated bipyridinium (viologens) and bent symmetrically substituted dialkyl-oxadiazolyl-bipyridinium have been synthesized, in order to study the effect on the mesomorphic and electrooptical properties of the non-symmetric functionalization (alkyl chain and fluoroalkyl chains of different lengths) on the two pyridinium rings and additionally the effect of a bent conjugated spacer among the two pyridinium units of the viologen. POM and DSC characterization show that the synthesized salts have a mesomorphic and, in some cases, polymesomorphic behaviour in a wide thermal range, als…
Development and In Vitro Evaluation of Lyotropic Liquid Crystals for the Controlled Release of Dexamethasone.
2017
Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-11T17:33:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2017-08-02 Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) In this study, amphiphilic polymers were investigated as biomaterials that can control dexamethasone (DXM) release. Such materials present interfacial properties in the presence of water and an oily phase that can result in lyotropic liquid crystalline systems (LLCS). In addition, they can form colloidal nanostructures similar to those in living organisms, such as bilayers and hexagonal and cubic phases, which can be exploited to solubilize lipophilic drugs to sustain their release and enhance bioavailability. It was…
Mechanical manipulation of molecular lattice parameters in smectic elastomers.
2006
Smectic liquid crystalline elastomers (SLCE) represent unique materials that combine a 1-D molecular lattice arrangement and orientational order with rubber-elasticity mediated by a polymer network. Such materials may exhibit large thermo-mechanical, opto-mechanical and electro-mechanical effects, due to the coupling of macroscopic sample geometry and microscopic structural features. It is shown that the molecular layer dimensions in the smectic phases can be influenced reversibly by macroscopic strain of the material. We present a microscopic model on the basis of experimental results obtained by mechanical dilatation measurements, optical interferometry, X-ray scattering, (13)C NMR, FTIR …
Measurement of elastic forces between iron colloidal particles in a nematic liquid crystal.
2006
The forces that arise between two iron particles in a nematic liquid crystal with a strong homeotropic anchoring were studied. For the first time, the short range repulsive force resulting from the presence of a hedgehog defect between two particles was precisely determined thanks to application of a small magnetic field and observation of the equilibrium position resulting from the balance between the elastic and magnetic forces. Above a given threshold force, the particles stuck together whereas the hedgehog defect was expelled and transformed into a Saturn ring located between the particles. The attractive part of the interparticle force was determined with the same method on the entire …
Analysis of multiple internal reflections in a parallel aligned liquid crystal on silicon SLM
2014
Multiple internal reflection effects on the optical modulation of a commercial reflective parallel-aligned liquid-crystal on silicon (PAL-LCoS) spatial light modulator (SLM) are analyzed. The display is illuminated with different wavelengths and different angles of incidence. Non-negligible Fabry-Perot (FP) effect is observed due to the sandwiched LC layer structure. A simplified physical model that quantitatively accounts for the observed phenomena is proposed. It is shown how the expected pure phase modulation response is substantially modified in the following aspects: 1) a coupled amplitude modulation, 2) a non-linear behavior of the phase modulation, 3) some amount of unmodulated light…
Synthesis of Fluorinated Bent-Core Mesogens (BCMs) Containing the 1,2,4-Oxadiazole Ring
2015
New fluorinated bent-core mesogens containing the 1,2,4-oxadiazole or 1,2,4-triazole nucleus have been synthesized taking advantage of the ANRORC (Addition of Nucleophile, Ring-Opening, Ring-Closure) reactivity of 5-perfluoroalkyl-1,2,4-oxadiazoles. Physical state changes of the obtained compounds were characterized through DSC, POM, and SAXS. Besides the formation of a smectic mesophase, a novel behavior as organic molecular glass was evidenced for some 1,2,4-oxadiazole derivatives.