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Frederiks transition in ferroelectric liquid-crystal nanosuspensions

Frederiks transition in ferroelectric liquid-crystal nanosuspensions
Frederiks transition in ferroelectric liquid-crystal nanosuspensions
We construct a theoretical model of the dielectric properties of a ferroelectric LC nanosuspension (FLCNS), using a generalized Maxwell-Garnett picture. The theory supposes that an FLCNS may as a first approximation be considered as a complex homogeneous dielectric ceramic, thus neglecting positional correlations of the colloidal particles. The FLCNS then consists of an anisotropic matrix with a very low concentration (<1% by volume) of impurity particles. The impurity particles possess both shape and dielectric anisotropy, as well as a permanent electric polarization and strong liquid-crystal director anchoring on the particle surface. We show that the effective dielectric properties for capacitance properties and for effective liquid-crystal free energies do not coincide. We calculate the effect of doping a liquid crystal with ferroelectric impurities on the Frederiks transition. The theory takes account of inclusion shape, dielectric susceptibility, and local field effects. We neglect the possibility of dielectric particle chaining, which appears experimentally not to occur in general. Our calculations suggest, in qualitative agreement with experiment, that doping a nematic liquid crystal with ferroelectric particles, even at very low particle concentration, can in some cases significantly decrease the electric Frederiks threshold field.

1539-3755
41705
Shelestiuk, Sergii
c882aac8-2dc1-4003-9f59-a3a9e3b6dc88
Reshetnyak, Victor
cfa84aa7-1edb-4583-95cd-36fa3058a976
Sluckin, Timothy J.
8dbb6b08-7034-4ae2-aa65-6b80072202f6
Shelestiuk, Sergii
c882aac8-2dc1-4003-9f59-a3a9e3b6dc88
Reshetnyak, Victor
cfa84aa7-1edb-4583-95cd-36fa3058a976
Sluckin, Timothy J.
8dbb6b08-7034-4ae2-aa65-6b80072202f6

Shelestiuk, Sergii, Reshetnyak, Victor and Sluckin, Timothy J. (2011) Frederiks transition in ferroelectric liquid-crystal nanosuspensions. Physical Review E, 83 (4), 41705. (doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.83.041705).

Record type: Article

Abstract

We construct a theoretical model of the dielectric properties of a ferroelectric LC nanosuspension (FLCNS), using a generalized Maxwell-Garnett picture. The theory supposes that an FLCNS may as a first approximation be considered as a complex homogeneous dielectric ceramic, thus neglecting positional correlations of the colloidal particles. The FLCNS then consists of an anisotropic matrix with a very low concentration (<1% by volume) of impurity particles. The impurity particles possess both shape and dielectric anisotropy, as well as a permanent electric polarization and strong liquid-crystal director anchoring on the particle surface. We show that the effective dielectric properties for capacitance properties and for effective liquid-crystal free energies do not coincide. We calculate the effect of doping a liquid crystal with ferroelectric impurities on the Frederiks transition. The theory takes account of inclusion shape, dielectric susceptibility, and local field effects. We neglect the possibility of dielectric particle chaining, which appears experimentally not to occur in general. Our calculations suggest, in qualitative agreement with experiment, that doping a nematic liquid crystal with ferroelectric particles, even at very low particle concentration, can in some cases significantly decrease the electric Frederiks threshold field.

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Published date: 1 April 2011
Organisations: Applied Mathematics

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 181425
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/181425
ISSN: 1539-3755
PURE UUID: 5e739bbe-dfd0-4423-8e23-f20987b2837c
ORCID for Timothy J. Sluckin: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9163-0061

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Date deposited: 18 Apr 2011 13:10
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:32

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Contributors

Author: Sergii Shelestiuk
Author: Victor Reshetnyak

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