Double Peak Specific Heat Capacity Anomaly in Mixtures of Liquid Crystals and Nanoparticles

Abstract

The liquid crystal phase behaviour in the interval close to the isotropic-nematic phase transition and in the vicinity of wetting and dewetting interface has been analysed. For the theoretical study Landau-de Gennes mesoscopic model in terms of the tensor orientational order parameter has been used.

It has been shown that in an appropriate interval of surface wetting interaction strengths, wetting and dewetting phenomena could take place. This phenomenon could be a reason behind the observed double peak anomaly in the specific heat capacity C _p temperature dependence in a mixture of nanoparticles and liquid crystals.

Keywords:

• Dewetting
• double-peak anomaly
• liquid crystal
• mixtures
• nanoparticles
• wetting

Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the Slovenian Research Agency under program P1-0099.