Structural and dielectric behaviors of Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ – lyotropic liquid crystalline nanocolloids

ABSTRACT

We investigated the structural and dielectric dynamics of nanocolloids comprising lyotropic liquid crystals and bismuth titanate (Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂) spherical nanoparticles (≈16–18 nm) of varying concentration 0.05 and 0.1 wt%. The lyotropic liquid crystalline mixture was prepared by a binary mixture of cetylpyridinuium chloride and ethylene glycol mixed in 5:95 wt% ratio. Binary lyotropic mixture exhibited hexagonal lyotropic phase. Structural and textural characterizations of nanocolloids infer that the nanoparticles were homogeneously dispersed in the liquid crystalline matrix and did not perturb the hexagonal ordering of the lyotropic phase. The dielectric constant and dielectric strength were found to be increased with the rise in the Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ nanoparticles concertation in the lyotropic matrix. A significant increase of one order was observed in the ac conductivity of colloidal systems as compared to the non-doped lyotropic liquid crystal. Relaxation parameters of the non-doped lyotropic liquid crystal and colloidal systems were computed and correlated with other parameters.

KEYWORDS:

• Hexagonal mesophases
• ionic surfactants
• dielectric spectroscopy
• electrolytic capacitor

Acknowledgments

Authors thank S. Bhardwaj (PEC, Chandigarh, Punjab, India) for providing nanoparticles.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.