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Pretransitional Nematic Ordering In Liquid Crystals With Dispersed Polymer Networks, Y. K. Fung, A. Borstnik, S. Zumer, Deng-Ke Yang, J. William Doane
Pretransitional Nematic Ordering In Liquid Crystals With Dispersed Polymer Networks, Y. K. Fung, A. Borstnik, S. Zumer, Deng-Ke Yang, J. William Doane
Deng-Ke Yang
The birefringence induced by partially ordered polymer networks dispersed in an isotropic phase of liquid crystals is studied. Polymer networks were formed by the polymerization of 1-4 % mixtures of prepolymer in the nematic phase of liquid crystals. The partial nematic (paranematic) ordering is analyzed in terms of the Landau-de Gennes approach using a simple model of an array of thin fibrils, which can, on a large scale, form bundles of polymer-rich material. The comparison of the theory and birefringence data clearly shows that the main building bloc of the network is a few nanometers thick fibril. The average thickness …