title: Director configuration of liquid-crystal droplets encapsulated by polyelectrolytes.
abstract: Liquid-crystal 4-n-pentyl-4'-cyanobiphenyl (5CB) droplets dispersed in aqueous solution are prepared by the assembly of poly(styrenesulfonic acid) (PSSH) and poly(styrenesulfonate sodium) (PSSNa) at the 5CB/water interface. The micrometer sized PSSH-coated 5CB droplets in the space confinement formed by two parallel glass slides break up into submicrometer sized droplets under evaporation-induced flow. We find that the size reduction of the PSSH-coated droplets is accompanied by the bipolar-to-radial configuration transition of the 5CB in the droplets, while the PSSNa-coated 5CB droplets show no size-dependent configuration transition in the same size range. Our results suggest that the size-dependent director configuration of liquid-crystal droplets encapsulated by polyelectrolytes can be modulated by changing the interface conditions, which is important in designing liquid-crystal droplets for optical and biological applications.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center, Department of Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Engineering, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816, USA.
authors.forename: Jianhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.forename: Jiyu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fang
mesh_terms: D001713:Biphenyl Compounds / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D004573:Electrolytes / Q000737:chemistry; D050866:Liquid Crystals / Q000737:chemistry*; D009570:Nitriles / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D012996:Solutions; D013499:Surface Properties; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D001713:Biphenyl Compounds; D004573:Electrolytes; D009570:Nitriles; D011108:Polymers; D012996:Solutions; D014867:Water; C433919:4-cyano-4'-pentylbiphenyl