ABSTRACT
In the present manuscript, the characterisation was done on liquid crystalline n-hexyloxycyanobiphenyl (6ocb) compound with dispersed citrate-capped gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) at different concentrations. It is observed that the birefringence enhances with increase in concentration of Au NPs. Also, strong Vander Waal’s interaction takes place due to well capping between the Au NPs and 6ocb molecules. The refractive indices are determined by using modified spectrometer at different wavelengths. The orientational order parameter has been determined from various theoretical molecular internal field models namely, Kuczynski, Effective geometry, Haller’s extrapolation and Vuks. The dispersive power ω is estimated for two consecutive wavelengths for the case of <n>, ne and no at different wavelengths found to be constant with temperature. The values of cross-over temperature, TCO determined from the temperature gradients of ne and no. Further, the refractive indices measured are fitted with two and three coefficient Cauchy model. Three coefficient Cauchy model is favourable than two coefficient Cauchy model for high birefringence liquid crystals. The results obtained are compared and discussed. Further, the phase transitions can be easily identified by GMSD Image processing method with Matlab tool to reduce the costly equipment’s usage in finding the heat flow with respect to temperature.
Graphical abstract
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.