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Calorimetric study of activated kinetics of the nematic and smectic phase transitions in an aligned nano-colloidal liquid crystal+aerosil gel

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Abstract

This study explores the calorimetric analysis of an aligned nano-colloidal aerosil dispersed octyl-cyanobiphenyl gel. This system was prepared by solvent dispersion method (SDM). Heating scans were performed at different heating rates from 20 to 1 K min−1 using DSC. Aligned samples follow Arrhenius behavior and showed a temperature shift in SmA-N and N-I transitions towards lower temperature. These samples show a decreased activated kinetics and an interesting relationship with their enthalpy. This behavior can be explained in terms of surface and molecular interaction between aerosil nano-particles and 8CB molecules and produced strain in the system.

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  1. Department of Physics, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Massachusetts, 01609, USA

    D. Sharma

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  1. D. Sharma
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Sharma, D. Calorimetric study of activated kinetics of the nematic and smectic phase transitions in an aligned nano-colloidal liquid crystal+aerosil gel. J Therm Anal Calorim 93, 899–906 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-007-8583-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-007-8583-9

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