A First Example Of A Lyotropic Smectic C Analog Phase

In this thesis Johanna Bruckner reports the discovery of the lyotropic counterpart of the thermotropic SmC* phase, which has become famous as the only spontaneously polarized, ferroelectric fluid in nature. By means of polarizing optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction and electro-optic experiments she firmly establishes aspects of the structure of the novel lyotropic liquid crystalline phase and elucidates its fascinating properties, among them a pronounced polar electro-optic effect, analogous to the ferroelectric switching of its thermotropic counterpart. The helical ground state of the mesophase raises the fundamental question of how chiral interactions are "communicated" across layers of more or less disordered and achiral solvent molecules which are located between adjacent bi-layers of the chiral amphiphile molecules. This thesis bridges an important gap between thermotropic and lyotropic liquid crystals and pioneers a new field of liquid crystal research.

Liquid crystals (LCs) were discovered more than a century ago, and were, for a long time, treated as a physical curiosity, until the development of flat panel screens and display devices caused a revolution in the information display industry, and in fact in society. There would be no mobile phones without liquid crystals, no flat screen TVs or computer monitors, no virtual reality, just to name a few of the applications that have changed our whole world of vision and perception. All of these inventions are based on liquid crystals that are formed through a change in temperature, thermotropic LCs. However, there is another form of liquid crystals, described even earlier, yet much less talked about; the lyotropic liquid crystals that occur through the change of concentration of some molecules in a solvent. These are found in abundance in nature, making up the cell membranes, and are used extensively in the food, detergents and cosmetics industries. In this collection of articles by experts in their respective research areas, we bring together some of the most recent and innovative aspects of lyotropic liquid crystals, which we believe will drive future research and set novel trends in this field.

This volume is a translation and revision of the Original Russian version by Baryahktar. It covers all of the main fields involved in Condensed Matter Physics, such as crystallography, electrical properties, fluids, magnetism, material properties, optics, radiation, semiconductors, and superconductivity, as well as highlights of important related subjects such as quantum mechanics, spectroscopy, and statistical mechanics. Both theoretical and experimental aspects of condensed matter are covered in detail. The entries range from very short paragraphs on topics where definitions are needed, such as Bloch's law, clathrate compound, donor, domain, Kondo lattice, mean free path, and Wigner crystal, to long discussions of more general or more comprehensive topics such as antiferromagnetism, crystal lattice dynamics, dislocations, Fermi surface, Josephson effect, luminescence, magnetic films, phase transitions and semiconductors. The main theoretical approaches to Condensed Matter Physics are explained. There are several long tables on, for example, Bravais lattices, characteristics of magnetic materials, units of physical quantities, symmetry groups. The properties of the main elements of the periodic table are given. Numerous entries not covered by standard Solid State Physics texts o Self-similarity o The adiabatic approximation o Bistability Emphasis on materials not discussed in standard texts o Activated carborn o Austenite o Bainite o Calamitics o Carbine o Delat phase o Discotics o Gunier-Preston zones o Heterodesmic structures o Heusler Alloys o Stress and strain deviators o Vicalloy · Each entry is fully cross-referenced to help tracking down all aspects of a topic under investigation Highly illustrated to clarify many concepts

While liquid crystals are today widely known for their successful application in flat panel displays (LCDs), academic liquid crystal research is more and more targeting situations where these anisotropic fluids are put to completely different use, in varying contexts. A particularly strong focus is on colloidal liquid crystals, where particles, bubbles or drops are dispersed in a liquid crystal phase. The liquid crystal can act as a host phase, with the inclusions constituting foreign guests that disturb the local order in interesting ways, often resulting in large-scale positional arrangement and/or uniform alignment of the guests. But it may also be formed by solid particles themselves, if these are of nanoscale dimensions and of disc- or rod-shape, and if they are suspended in an isotropic liquid host at sufficient concentration. This book aims to cover both the modern research tracks, gathering pioneering researchers of the different subfields to give a concise overview of the basis as well as the prospects of their respective specialties. The scope spans from curiosity-driven fundamental scientific research to applied sciences. Over the course of the next decade, the former is likely to generate new tracks of the latter type, considering the exploratory and productive phase of this young research field. Contents:Introduction (G Scalia and J P F Lagerwall)Volume 1:Fundamentals:A Phenomenological Introduction to Liquid Crystals and Colloids (J P F Lagerwall)Nanoparticle Dispersions: A Colloid and Polymer Solution Perspective (P van der Schoot)Nematic Liquid Crystals Doped with Nanoparticles: Phase Behavior and Dielectric Properties (M A Osipov and M V Gorkunov)Methods for Studying Liquid Crystals and Their Inclusions:Conventional and Nonlinear Optical Microscopy of Liquid Crystal Colloids (T Lee and I I Smalyukh)X-Ray Scattering (G Ungar, Z Chen and X Zeng)Raman Spectroscopy (H F Gleeson) Manipulation of Inclusions with Optical Tweezers (M Skarabot)Atomic Force Microscopy on Liquid Crystals (C Bahr and B Schulz)Micron Scale Inclusions in Liquid Crystals:Solid Microparticles in Nematic Liquid Crystals (Igor Muševič) Inclusions in Freely Suspended Smectic Films (R Stannarius and K Harth)Liquid Crystal-Enabled Electrophoresis and Electro-Osmosis (O D Lavrentovich)Volume 2:Nanoparticles in Liquid Crystals:Nanoparticles in Discotic Liquid Crystals (S Kumar)Metallic and Semiconducting Nanoparticles in LCs (A Sharma, M Urbanski, T Moria, H-S Kitzerow and T Hegmann)Inorganic Nanotubes and Nanorods in Liquid Crystals (I Drevenšek-Olenik)Liquid Crystals from Mesogens Containing Gold Nanoparticles (W Lewandowski and E Gorecka)Carbon Nanotubes in Thermotropic Low Molar Mass Liquid Crystals (S Schymura, J Park, I Dierking and G Scalia)Carbon Nanotubes Dispersed in Liquid Crystal Elastomers (Y Yang and Y Ji)Ferromagnetic and Ferroelectric Nanoparticles in Liquid Crystals (Y Reznikov, A Glushchenko and Y Garbovskiy)Nanoparticle Guests in Lyotropic Liquid Crystals (S Dölle, J H Park, S Schymura, Hyeran Jo, G Scalia and J P F Lagerwall)Control of Nanoparticle Self-Assemblies Using Distorted Liquid Crystals (E Lacaze and D Coursault)Nanoparticles and Networks Created Within Liquid Crystals (S-W Kang and S Kundu)Liquid Crystals Formed by Nanoparticle Suspensions:Nematic Phase Formation in Suspensions of Carbon Nanotubes (C Zakri and Ph Poulin)Nematic Phase Formation in Suspensions of Graphene Oxide (N Fresneau and S Campidelli)Electro-Optical Switching of Liquid Crystals of Graphene Oxide (J Song)Liquid Crystalline Phases in Suspensions of Pigments in Non-Polar Solvent (S Klein, R Richardson and A Eremin)Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Formation in Suspensions of Cellulose Nanocrystals (C Honorato-Rios, J Bruckner, C Schütz, S Wagner, Z Tosheva, L Bergström and J P F Lagerwall)Subject Index Readership: This book would be beneficial as a reference work for researchers active in the field as well as for other researchers aiming to enter the field.

This book presents a compilation of self-contained chapters covering a wide range of topics within the broad field of soft condensed matter. Each chapter starts with basic definitions to bring the reader up-to-date on the topic at hand, describing how to use fluid flows to generate soft materials of high value either for applications or for basic research. Coverage includes topics related to colloidal suspensions and soft materials and how they differ in behavior, along with a roadmap for researchers on how to use soft materials to study relevant physics questions related to geometrical frustration.

This text is a primer for liquid crystals, polymers, rubber and elasticity. It is directed at physicists, chemists, material scientists, engineers and applied mathematicians at the graduate student level and beyond.

CD-ROM contains electronic questions and interactive multimedia.