Kinetics of the nematic ordered phase growth during a temperature quench of an isotropic siloxane‐azomethine polymer

Abstract

Kinetics of the nucleus growth during a deep temperature quench across the isotropic to nematic phase transition was experimentally investigated for a siloxane‐azomethine polyether at cooling rates of 10 and 20°C min⁻¹. Nematic droplets revealed in the optical images during the phase separation were treated statistically and the resulting statistical size distributions were described using the model of reversible aggregation. Analysis of the time‐dependent distribution parameters allowed two processes involved in liquid crystal phase ordering to be identified: nucleus growth and nucleus coarsening. Both regimes are quantitatively described using the universal growth law.