Abstract
An AB block copolymer consisting of a liquid crystalline block A and an isotropic block B has been selectively dissolved in a low molecular weight nematic solvent (LMWNS). We investigated mixtures with fixed weight fractions using polarizing optical microscopy, small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), small angle neutron scattering (SANS) and 2H NMR spectroscopy. The information obtained from the different methods that are selectively for the mesogen or micellar ordering (or for both) enables us to present the complete phase diagram. The A block of the copolymer is miscible in the nematic solvent and thus is termed “nematophilic” while the other constituent block is “nematophobic”. We show that these block copolymers in a nematic solvent behave like polymeric surfactants in aqueous solution. Here, the concept of amphiphilicity can be extended to a non-aqueous anisotropic system. Cylindrical micelles are formed in the diluted regime. At higher concentrations the micelles form nematic and hexagonal phases. Thus, this highly complex system contains two different anisotropies: The superstructures of the anisotropic micelles and the ordering of the mesogens within (or around) the micelles.
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