Abstract

The rheological behavior of cholesteric lyotropic liquid crystals can give information about the chiral forces involved in the formation of the cholesteric arrangement. In the present work, we studied the effect of water availability on the orientation process of a lyotropic liquid crystal system submitted to flow. We prepared different mesophases based on decylammonium chloride with different amounts of cholesterol added as an inductor. It was observed that the orientation process should involve an initial step of destruction of a cholesteric structure caused by shear that leads to the formation of microdomains. In a second stage these microdomains will orientate themselves, forming a new helical structure in the direction of the flow. Finally, on the third stage, the accommodation of the micelles on a new structure, seeking the best orientation of the system on the flow direction, could be observed. The obtained results showed that the content of water available would determine the existence of fragmentation, rearrange, and accommodation stages.

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