Dispersions of pyrogenic alumina in pentylcyanobiphenyl studied by deuteron NMR

Abstract

Dispersions of hydrophilic (Aeroxide Alu C) and hydrophobic (Aeroxide Alu C 805) pyrogenic alumina (Al2O3) in liquid crystal 4;{'} -n-pentyl-4-cyanobiphenyl (5CB) were investigated with deuteron nuclear magnetic resonance. The disorder effects of Al2O3 particles on the orientational order of liquid-crystal media and on the field-induced director configuration were studied as a function of alumina density in samples prepared by zero-field cooling and in-field cooling procedures. The order parameters and their variation with alumina density suggest a stronger disordering effect from the nonpolar surface of Alu C 805 particles. For dispersions of hydrophobic Alu C 805 experiments involving in-field cooling from the isotropic phase indicate that the director of "disordered" domains can be aligned, though not perfectly, by the field-aided annealing process. But the same in-field cooling procedure has shown rather limited alignment effects for hydrophilic Alu C/5CB samples. The more robust network of hydrophilic gel possibly coupled with weak liquid-crystal-network interactions could be responsible for the observed behavior. Spectra recorded during in-field cooling and within the isotropic-nematic coexistence region reveal the augmentation of the disorder strength during the transition and illustrate the effect of field-aided annealing. The stability of the aligned states as revealed by deuteron NMR is described. The results are discussed in comparison with previous studies of aerosil dispersions in alkylcyanobiphenyl.