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Pis'ma v Zhurnal Èksperimental'noi i Teoreticheskoi Fiziki, 2010, Volume 91, Issue 5, Pages 259–262
(Mi jetpl666)
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This article is cited in 28 scientific papers (total in 28 papers)
CONDENSED MATTER
Cluster self-organization of nanotubes in a nematic phase: The percolation behavior and appearance of optical singularities
V. V. Ponevchinskiia, A. I. Goncharukb, V. I. Vasil'eva, N. I. Lebovkab, M. S. Soskina a Institute of Physics of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine
b F. Ovcharenko Institute of Biocolloidal Chemistry, Ukraine National Academy of Sciences
Abstract:
The structural features, as well as the optical and electrophysical properties of a 5CB nematic liquid crystal with additions of multilayer carbon nanotubes, have been investigated in the concentration range C = 0.0025–0.1 wt %. The self-aggregation of nanotubes into clusters with a fractal structure occurs in the liquid crystal. At 0.025 wt %, the clusters are merged, initiating the percolation transition of the composite to a state with a high electric conductivity. The strong interaction of 5CB molecules with the surface of nanotube clusters is responsible for the formation of micron surface liquid crystal layers with an irregular field of elastic stresses and a complex structure of birefringence. They are easily observed in a polarization microscope and visualize directly invisible submicron nanotube aggregates. Their transverse size increases when an electric field is applied to the liquid crystal cell. Two mechanisms of the generation of optical singularities in the passing laser beam have been revealed. Optical vortices appear in the speckle fields of laser radiation scattered at the indented boundaries of the nanotube clusters, whereas the birefringence of the beam in surface liquid-crystal layers is accompanied by the appearance of polarization C points.
Received: 11.01.2010
Citation:
V. V. Ponevchinskii, A. I. Goncharuk, V. I. Vasil'ev, N. I. Lebovka, M. S. Soskin, “Cluster self-organization of nanotubes in a nematic phase: The percolation behavior and appearance of optical singularities”, Pis'ma v Zh. Èksper. Teoret. Fiz., 91:5 (2010), 259–262; JETP Letters, 91:5 (2010), 241–244
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https://www.mathnet.ru/eng/jetpl666 https://www.mathnet.ru/eng/jetpl/v91/i5/p259
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Abstract page: | 425 | Full-text PDF : | 110 | References: | 52 |
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