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Updated: Aug 12, 2026

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
Alignment and phase transition induced by surface action in lyotropic nematic liquid crystals
1Instituto de Fisica, Universidade de Sao Paulo, P.O. Box 66318, Sao Paulo 05389-970, SP, Brazil.
Abstract:
The alignment properties of lyotropic nematic liquid crystals (LNLC) on treated substrates were studied. Hydrophobic vs hydrophilic surfaces as well as rubbed vs nonrubbed surfaces were used to investigate the influence of the boundary surfaces on the spontaneous alignment of LNLC. It was found that the nematic particles can follow the anchoring direction imposed by the surface only when the LNLC material is strongly confined. We also observed a phase transition induced by surface action in the case of strong confinement. The reorientation and relaxation processes of the nematic director at the treated boundary surfaces were also studied. The characteristic times of these processes were found to be dependent on the sample thickness and the surface properties.
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