The intention of this study is to investigate the evolution and transition of lyotropic lamellar phase and the formation of multi-lamellar vesicles (MLVs) under shear flow, since the shear technology can be used to produce well defined multi-lamellar vesicles which are useful for encapsulating drugs in medical or research fields. The system was designed to stabilize and track one single multi-lamellar vesicle, which is being sheared under Couette shear flow between two co-rotational disks, by using polarizing microscope and a LabView program. For the whole system, most parts of the hardware instrument and all the software programs were originally designed and homemade, which makes this a unique undertaking. Eighty percent of the time was spent on designing, assembling, testing and improving the hardware instrument and software programs to make sure the system can achieve our aim as accurately as possible. The lyotropic lamellar phase sample is made of pentanol, dodecane, SDS and water. Nine different concentrations from 16% to 32% of SDS+Water were explored under five different shear rates from 3.3 to 13.2 . Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) is a kind of surfactant which has an amphiphilic molecular structure, and a certain liquid crystal structure (such as a lamellar phase) will be formed when it is dissolved in a water/oil mixture solvent. It is a great achievement that one single multi-lamellar vesicle is able to be followed for over 20 minutes under shear, and it is found that the multi-lamellar vesicle does not exhibit any obvious changes with time once it was already formed. Three different structural regions were found for the dilute lamellar phase while evolving to the multi-lamellar vesicle orientation state under shear. However, only two regions were found for the lamellar phase with higher concentrations under low shear rate since the lamellar phase will not reach to the multi-lamellar vesicle state. Besides, on the basis of the results of these experiments, it can be concluded that either higher shear rate or higher concentration of SDS+Water will hasten the formation of multi-lamellar vesicles. For the transition time of reaching a uniform multi-lamellar vesicle orientation state, it can be reduced by increasing shear rate. In addition, the results show that the transition time is decreasing more slowly for high concentrated lamellar phases than dilute lamellar phases with increasing the shear rate.

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No description available.

This thesis presents the investigation of the liquid crystal (LC) - particle suspensions. Particles from nano- to micro-size, spherical to two-dimensional shapes, with different functionality are dispersed into nematic and smectic phases. The aim is to create ordered nanoparticle (NP) assemblies and thereby modify the common properties of the liquid crystal, such as dielectric anisotropy and electro-optical, revealing any interaction between particles and LC properties. It is found that for concentrations (>0.5vol%), the ferroelectric NPs have increased the sensitivity of the nematic liquid crystal to the electric field through electro-optical responses, which is seen by an enhancement in the dielectric anisotropy. This could be induced by the coupling of the electrical dipole moments in the spherical NPs with the LC director field. The electro-optical properties of the chiral smectic (SmC*) phase (tilt angle Θ, switching time τ_s and spontaneous polarisation P_s) are found to be independent of the concentration and sizes of the doped NPs. The relaxation frequency f_R of the Goldstone mode is faster in the ferroelectric NPs suspensions of 2.0vol% compared to the paraelectric NPs. In the graphene oxide (GO) - nematic LC (5CB) suspensions, the small GO sizes of mean size 560 nm are more easily dispersible than larger flakes of 2.8 micro metre mean size. As the GO concentration is increased, each of the threshold voltage and splay elastic constant dramatically increases, reaching saturation at ≈1.0wt%. The field driven switching-on time is practically not affected, while the purely elastically driven switching-off time is strongly sped-up. Interestingly, thermotropic and lyotropic LC phases are exhibited in the GO-5CB suspensions when heating the thermotropic liquid crystal into its isotropic phase. The isotropic phase of 5CB acts as a solvent for the GO particles, forming a lyotropic nematic phase with largely reduced birefringence. It is found that the nematic to isotropic phase transition is shifted toward higher temperature for the GO-5CB system compared to the BaTiO3-5CB system. Dispersions of different sizes of GO flakes are prepared in isotropic and nematic fluid media. The dielectric relaxation behaviour of GO-dispersions was examined for a wide temperature range (25-60 ℃) and frequency range (100 Hz-2 MHz). The mixtures containing GO flakes were found to exhibit varying dielectric relaxation processes, depending on the size of the flakes and the elastic properties of the dispersant fluid. The relaxation frequencies in the isotropic media were lower compared to the nematic medium. Relaxation frequencies (~10 kHz) are observed in the GO-isotropic media, which are reduced as the size of the GO flakes are decreased, are anticipated to be inherited from GO flakes. However, the fast relaxations (~100 kHz) that are observed in the nematic suspensions could imply strongly slowed down molecular relaxation modes of the nematogenic molecules. Finally, the phase diagram of lyotropic LC as a function of the lateral dimensions of the GO flakes, their concentration, geometrical confinement configuration and solvent polarity was investigated. Polarising optical microscopy was used to determine isotropic-biphasic-nematic phase evolution. The confinement volume and geometry of the sample relative to the GO size are shown to be vital to the observation of the lyotropic phase. GO LCs have the potential for a range of applications from display technologies to conductive fibres. The confinement related LC phase transition is critical toward their applications. It is also found that the stability of the LC phase is higher for the solvent of higher dielectric constant.

The successful applications of nanoparticles require the ability to tune their properties by controlling size and shape at the nanoscale. In metal nanomaterial research, the optical properties have been of interest especially because of the applications to medical diagnostics and nanooptics. It is important to prepare nanoparticles of well-defined shape and size for properly characterizing the optical properties. We describe improved seed mediated synthesis of gold nanorods (GNRs) producing a high yield of NRs with low polydispersity and few byproducts. The efficient separation of GNRs from mixture of shapes is achieved by understanding the hydrodynamics of nanoparticles undergoing centrifugation. The optical properties of resulting refined GNRs are compared to predictions of existing theories, and the main parameters affecting them are discussed. GNRs with well defined aspect ratios are introduced into a polyvinyl alcohol matrix by means of solution-casting techniques. The film is drawn to induce the uniaxial alignment of GNRs to be used as color polarizing filters. We prepare GNR polarizing filter with different peak positions ranging from visible to near infra red by using different aspect ratio of NRs. To utilize GNRs to make nanoscale devices, spatial organization is required. We characterize the self-assembly of GNRs observed on a TEM grid. The drying process is accompanied by complex hydrodynamic and thermodynamic events, which create rich range of patterns observed. Being anisotropic in shape, the rods can form liquid crystal (LC) assemblies above a certain concentration. We observed LC phase of GNRs by resorting to an evaporation of aqueous NR solution. The convective flow caused by the solvent evaporation carries NRs from the bulk solution to solid-liquid-air interface, which makes the solution locally very concentrated driving the phase transition of NRs. We calculate the order parameter from various assemblies observed, and compare the observed phase behavior to the one expected on the basis of theory.

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Liquid crystalline materials (LCMs) have gained much popularity over the past century. The thermotropic forms of these materials have been extensively studied and employed in a range of innovative applications. The lyotropic liquid crystal systems that have been studied in the past have often been formed by the organization of natural and synthetic small molecules in solutions. In this study, we use self-assembled supramolecular structures as building blocks to fabricate lyotropic liquid crystals. We investigate the self-assembly of a naturally occurring bile acid called lithocholic acid (LCA), to form supramolecular fibrous and tubular structures in basic aqueous solutions. We control the morphology of the self-assembled structures by manipulating experimental parameters in order to gain comprehensive knowledge regarding the self-assembly process. We characterize these structures with respect to their morphology i.e. their length, diameter, flexibility and shape using atomic force microscopy, optical microscopy and infrared spectroscopy. We produce lyotropic liquid crystal phases using self-assembled LCA structures through modification of physical parameters such as concentration, temperature, shear and pH. The nature of the lyotropic liquid crystal phases depends upon the morphology of the fibers and tubes. We observe that the short, rigid fibers and tubes form nematic phases while long, flexible fibers and tubes form cholesteric phases. We also study the phase transitions of the liquid crystal (LC) phases by observing their patterns using a polarizing microscope. Observations show that LC phases form in samples with LCA concentration above 0.75%w/w. Since the process of self-assembly is time-dependent, so is the formation of liquid crystal phases. We note that the optimum LCA concentration for LC phase formation is 2%-4%w/w and that the liquid crystal transition temperature is about 70[degrees]C.

Conjugated polymers are semiconducting materials that are currently being researched for numerous applications from chemical and biological sensors to electronic devices, including photovoltaics and transistors. Much of the novel research on conjugated polymers is performed in academic settings, where scientists are working to prepare conjugated polymers for commercially viable applications. By offering numerous advantages, inherent in macromolecular materials, conjugated polymers may hold the key to cheap and environmentally friendly manufacturing of future electronic devices. Mechanical flexibility, and solvent-based coating processes are two commonly cited advantages. Transitions in the backbone conformation of polythiophenes (PT) in organic solvents have been widely observed to influence thin-film morphology. However, conformational transitions of water-soluble PT derivatives, with respect to their intramolecular versus intermolecular origin, remain largely obscure. Here, conformational transitions of a water- soluble polythiophene in aqueous ionic surfactants are investigated by means of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarizing optical microscopy (POM), ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy, and various X-ray scattering techniques. As-prepared complexes exist as stable hydrogels. Upon dilution, a significant time-dependent chromism occurs spontaneously. A coil-to-rod conformational transition is identified in this mechanism and verified using small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS). Study into the corresponding kinetics demonstrates an inverse first-order rate law. It is found that the conformational transition is thermally reversible and concentration-independent. The critical transition temperature is largely dependent on the surfactant formulation. A theoretical model is presented to explain this new phenomenon and the mechanisms behind its influence on the optoelectronic and solid-state morphological properties. A relationship between the dilute-solution processing with surfactants and the final properties of the system is substantiated.