Phase behavior of nanoparticles in a thermotropic liquid crystal

Cristina Da Cruz; Olivier Sandre; Valérie Cabuil

doi:10.1021/jp0455024

Phase behavior of nanoparticles in a thermotropic liquid crystal

J Phys Chem B. 2005 Aug 4;109(30):14292-9. doi: 10.1021/jp0455024.

Authors

Cristina Da Cruz¹, Olivier Sandre, Valérie Cabuil

Affiliation

¹ Laboratoire des Liquides Ioniques et Interfaces Chargées, Unité Mixte de Recherche, 7612 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Case 63, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris, Cedex 05, France.

PMID: 16852796
DOI: 10.1021/jp0455024

Abstract

In this work, we describe the outstanding behavior of a nanocomposite system composed of the thermotropic liquid crystal 5CB doped with nanoparticles of the magnetic iron oxide maghemite (gamma-Fe(2)O(3)). We show that the I-N transition is associated with a reversible gathering of nanoparticles inside droplets of the ferronematic phase coexisting with a nonmagnetic nematic host phase.