Thermo-sensitive discotic colloidal liquid crystals

Soft Matter. 2014 Oct 21;10(39):7692-5. doi: 10.1039/c4sm00797b. Epub 2014 Sep 1.

Abstract

We fabricated for the first time thermo-sensitive discotic liquid crystals by grafting poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) onto zirconium phosphate (ZrP) platelets using pre-irradiated polymerization. The I-N transition was investigated by adjusting the temperature for a single set of samples. We found that soft disks self-assemble into nematic liquid crystals in a wider thickness-over-diameter ratio than do hard disks.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.