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Surfactant-induced nematic wetting layer at a thermotropic liquid crystal/water interface

Ch. Bahr
Phys. Rev. E 73, 030702(R) – Published 13 March 2006

Abstract

An ellipsometric study of the interface between a thermotropic liquid crystal and water near the nematic–isotropic phase transition of the liquid crystal is presented. At temperatures above the transition, a nematic wetting layer appears at the interface if the water phase contains a surfactant inducing a homeotropic alignment of the nematic phase. The detailed behavior is significantly influenced by the concentration of the surfactant. The results can be described by a Landau model of nematic wetting in which the surfactant concentration tunes the magnitude of an ordering interface potential.

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  • Received 20 December 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.73.030702

©2006 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Ch. Bahr*

  • Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Bunsenstrasse 10, D-37073 Göttingen, Germany

  • *Electronic address: christian.bahr@ds.mpg.de

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Issue

Vol. 73, Iss. 3 — March 2006

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