Calorimetric study of phase transitions in confined liquid crystals
- 5 October 1992
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review Letters
- Vol. 69 (14) , 2094-2097
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.69.2094
Abstract
Using an ac calorimetry technique we measured the specific heat at the nematic-isotropic, smectic-A–nematic, and smectic-A–isotropic phase transitions, for the alkylcyanobiphenyl liquid crystal nCB series confined to the 0.2-μm-diam pores of Anopore membranes. Studies were also performed as a function of nematic director alignment within the pores. Novel effects regarding specific-heat amplitudes, transition-temperature shifts, and broadening and rounding of phase transitions are found. They are strongly dependent on the director orientation and on the order of the phase transition.Keywords
This publication has 18 references indexed in Scilit:
- Characterization of the cylindrical cavities of Anopore and Nuclepore membranesThe Journal of Chemical Physics, 1992
- Determination of the liquid-crystal surface elastic constantPhysical Review Letters, 1991
- Surface-induced orientational order in the isotropic phase of a liquid-crystal materialPhysical Review A, 1991
- Surface effects and anchoring in liquid crystalsReports on Progress in Physics, 1991
- Ordering and self-diffusion in the first molecular layer at a liquid-crystal–polymer interfacePhysical Review Letters, 1991
- Calorimetric study of the smectic-A–smectic- transition and the nematic–smectic-A–smectic- pointPhysical Review A, 1990
- Heat-capacity anomaly from four-layer liquid-crystal filmsPhysical Review Letters, 1989
- The formation of controlled-porosity membranes from anodically oxidized aluminiumNature, 1989
- High-resolution ac calorimetry and critical behavior at phase transitionsThermochimica Acta, 1985
- Steady-State, ac-Temperature CalorimetryPhysical Review B, 1968