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Related Experiment Videos

Atomic force microscopy study for supermolecular microstructures in side-chain liquid crystalline polymer films.

Shanju Zhang1, Eugene M Terentjev, Athene M Donald

  • 1Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK. sz222@cam.ac.uk

Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids
|April 6, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Atomic force microscopy reveals nanostripes in liquid crystalline polymers, decorating director patterns around topological defects like disclinations and inversion walls. These findings offer insights into polymer microstructure and defect behavior.

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Area of Science:

  • Materials Science
  • Polymer Science
  • Soft Matter Physics

Background:

  • Liquid crystalline polymers exhibit complex microstructures.
  • Topological defects such as disclinations and inversion walls influence material properties.
  • Understanding these structures is key to controlling polymer behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the supermolecular microstructures of disclinations and inversion walls in smectic side-chain liquid crystalline polymers.
  • To analyze the formation and characteristics of nanostripes observed in these films.
  • To elucidate the relationship between director fields and defect structures.

Main Methods:

  • Utilizing Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to image thin films of liquid crystalline polymers.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Analyzing the patterns of nanostripes and their correlation with director orientation.
  • Characterizing the morphology of positive (s=+1) and negative (s=-1) disclinations and inversion walls.

    • Main Results:

    • Formation of two-dimensional nanostripes parallel to the local director in the smectic phase.
    • Observation of radial, spiral, and circular microstructures for positive disclinations and hyperbolic patterns for negative disclinations.
    • Identification of specific configurations for disclination annihilation and the separation of disclination pairs by inversion walls.
    • Circular dark centers observed in the cores of all microstructures via AFM height imaging.

    Conclusions:

    • Nanostripes serve as markers for the nematic director field around topological defects.
    • The observed defect configurations provide insights into annihilation and separation mechanisms.
    • Elastic constants (bend and splay) are of comparable magnitude in this liquid crystalline polymer system.