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Nanoparticle-induced property changes in nematic liquid crystals

Nanoparticle-induced property changes in nematic liquid crystals
Nanoparticle-induced property changes in nematic liquid crystals
Doping liquid crystals with nanoparticles is a widely accepted method to enhance liquid crystal’s intrinsic properties. In this study, a quick and reliable method to characterise such colloidal suspensions using an optical multi-parameter analyser, a cross-polarised intensity measurement-based device, is presented. Suspensions characterised in this work are either plasmonic (azo-thiol gold AzoGNPs) or ferroelectric Sn2P2S6 (SPS) nanoparticles in nematic liquid crystals. The elastic constants and rotational viscosity showed nonlinear dependence on the concentration of AzoGNPs, initially increasing at lower concentrations and then decreasing at higher concentrations, indicating some degree of particle aggregation. For the SPS suspension, the elastic constant decreased with doping, while the rotational viscosity increased, in agreement with previous findings. Through viscosity measurements, the stability of SPS suspension over ten years is also highlighted.
Characterisation, Colloidal suspension, Elastic constants, Liquid crystal, Nanoparticles, Optical multi-parameter analyser, Rotational viscosity
2079-4991
Kaczmarek, Malgosia
408ec59b-8dba-41c1-89d0-af846d1bf327
D'alessandro, Giampaolo
bad097e1-9506-4b6e-aa56-3e67a526e83b
Brouckaert, Nicolas
3a5fc4fe-1d30-4102-9edd-c15d134a5c4b
Podoliak, Nina
587f3532-884f-46cd-9f46-e43ecdb2432d
Orlova, Tetiana
7b190d43-4489-4d4f-89d9-75eec72030ae
Bankova, Denitsa, Ognyanova
34388d3d-0094-4a1d-9297-49ce10fec1d3
De Fazio, Angela
e4115c3b-5447-4f30-8608-9e4115bc7d59
Kanaras, Antonios
667ecfdc-7647-4bd8-be03-a47bf32504c7
Hovorka, Ondrej
a12bd550-ad45-4963-aa26-dd81dd1609ee
Kaczmarek, Malgosia
408ec59b-8dba-41c1-89d0-af846d1bf327
D'alessandro, Giampaolo
bad097e1-9506-4b6e-aa56-3e67a526e83b
Brouckaert, Nicolas
3a5fc4fe-1d30-4102-9edd-c15d134a5c4b
Podoliak, Nina
587f3532-884f-46cd-9f46-e43ecdb2432d
Orlova, Tetiana
7b190d43-4489-4d4f-89d9-75eec72030ae
Bankova, Denitsa, Ognyanova
34388d3d-0094-4a1d-9297-49ce10fec1d3
De Fazio, Angela
e4115c3b-5447-4f30-8608-9e4115bc7d59
Kanaras, Antonios
667ecfdc-7647-4bd8-be03-a47bf32504c7
Hovorka, Ondrej
a12bd550-ad45-4963-aa26-dd81dd1609ee

Kaczmarek, Malgosia, D'alessandro, Giampaolo, Brouckaert, Nicolas, Podoliak, Nina, Orlova, Tetiana, Bankova, Denitsa, Ognyanova, De Fazio, Angela, Kanaras, Antonios and Hovorka, Ondrej (2022) Nanoparticle-induced property changes in nematic liquid crystals. Nanomaterials, 12 (3), [341]. (doi:10.3390/nano12030341).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Doping liquid crystals with nanoparticles is a widely accepted method to enhance liquid crystal’s intrinsic properties. In this study, a quick and reliable method to characterise such colloidal suspensions using an optical multi-parameter analyser, a cross-polarised intensity measurement-based device, is presented. Suspensions characterised in this work are either plasmonic (azo-thiol gold AzoGNPs) or ferroelectric Sn2P2S6 (SPS) nanoparticles in nematic liquid crystals. The elastic constants and rotational viscosity showed nonlinear dependence on the concentration of AzoGNPs, initially increasing at lower concentrations and then decreasing at higher concentrations, indicating some degree of particle aggregation. For the SPS suspension, the elastic constant decreased with doping, while the rotational viscosity increased, in agreement with previous findings. Through viscosity measurements, the stability of SPS suspension over ten years is also highlighted.

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nanomaterials-12-00341-v4 - Version of Record
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Accepted/In Press date: 18 January 2022
Published date: 21 January 2022
Additional Information: Funding Information: Funding: This work was supported by the Leverhulme Trust (grant RPG-2019-055). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
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Keywords: Characterisation, Colloidal suspension, Elastic constants, Liquid crystal, Nanoparticles, Optical multi-parameter analyser, Rotational viscosity
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Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 454667
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/454667
DOI: doi:10.3390/nano12030341
ISSN: 2079-4991
PURE UUID: 6caa8f4d-133f-4e86-a55d-abed5522e68c
ORCID for Giampaolo D'alessandro: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-9166-9356
ORCID for Antonios Kanaras: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9847-6706
ORCID for Ondrej Hovorka: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-6707-4325

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Date deposited: 18 Feb 2022 17:41
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:33

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Contributors

Author: Malgosia Kaczmarek
Author: Giampaolo D'alessandro ORCID iD
Author: Nicolas Brouckaert
Author: Nina Podoliak
Author: Tetiana Orlova
Author: Denitsa, Ognyanova Bankova
Author: Angela De Fazio
Author: Antonios Kanaras ORCID iD
Author: Ondrej Hovorka ORCID iD

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