Discontinuous anchoring transition and photothermal switching in composites of liquid crystals and conducting polymer nanofibers. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • We prepared nanocomposites of a nematic liquid crystal and nanofibers of a conducting polymer (polyaniline). All the nanocomposites exhibit a discontinuous surface anchoring transition from planar to homeotropic in the nematic phase on a perfluoropolymer coated surface with a thermal hysteresis (≈ 5.3 °C). We observe a relatively large bistable conductivity and demonstrate a light driven switching of conductivity and dielectric constant in dye doped nanocomposites in the thermal hysteresis (bistable) region. The experimental results have been explained based on the reorientation of the nanofibers driven by the anchoring transition of the nematic liquid crystal. We show a significant enhancement of the bistable temperature range (≈ 13 °C) by an appropriate choice of compound in the binary system.

publication date

  • May 8, 2014

Research

keywords

  • Fluorocarbons
  • Liquid Crystals
  • Models, Chemical
  • Nanofibers

Identity

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 84900443804

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1103/PhysRevE.89.052503

PubMed ID

  • 25353811

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 89

issue

  • 5