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Updated: Sep 15, 2026

Preparing Silica Aerogel Monoliths via a Rapid Supercritical Extraction Method
Published on: February 28, 2014
Aerosil dispersed in a liquid crystal: magnetic order and random silica disorder
1Department of Physics, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242-0001, USA.
Abstract:
Dispersions of silica spheres (aerosil) in octylcyanobiphenyl (8CB) liquid crystal were investigated with deuteron NMR. For the lowest silica density dispersions, there is a field-induced liquid crystal alignment as the field anneals most elastic strains. Increasing the silica density, the molecular alignment is stabilized by the spheres and is retained after sample rotation in the field; in the process, a few silica strand links are broken by the field, which realigns some molecules. At higher densities, the aerosil dispersions are aerogel like and disordering effects are apparent.
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