The Lyotropic Smectic Phase on the Flory Lattice

Abstract

The Flory lattice approach for rod-like molecules is extended to encompass the position-restricted (smectic-A) phase. The phase equilibria conditions are obtained from equity of relevant chemical potentials, together with minimization conditions of the Gibbs potential with respect to the system orientational (Flory disorder index, y) and positional (translational disorder index, ζ in the smectic phase) order.

Key Words:

• phase transition
• smectic phase
• lattice model