Phase transitions in liquid crystal doped with magnetic particles of different shapes

Abstract

In this study, observations of structural transitions in ferronematics based on the thermotropic nematic 4-trans-4'-n-hexyl-cyclohexyl-isothiocyanato- benzene (6CHBT) are described. Droplets of the nematic phase in the isotropic phase were observed in solutions of nematogenic 6CHBT dissolved in phenyl isocyanate and 6CHBT dissolved in phenyl isocyanate and doped with magnetic particles of different shapes (nanorods and chain-like particles). Magneto-dielectric measurements of structural transitions in these new systems enable to estimate of the type of anchoring of the nematic molecules on the magnetic particles surface. © The Author(s) 2010.