Nanoparticle-stabilized cholesteric blue phases

Hiroyuki Yoshida, Yuma Tanaka, Kosuke Kawamoto, Hitoshi Kubo, Tetsuya Tsuda, Akihiko Fujii, Susumu Kuwabata, Hirotsugu Kikuchi, Masanori Ozaki

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

224 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The authors report the expansion of the temperature range of cholesteric blue phases by doping nanoparticles. When spherical gold nanoparticles with a mean diameter of 3.7 nm were doped in a blue phase-exhibiting multi-component liquid crystal mixture, the temperature range of the cholesteric blue phase increased from 0.5 to 5°C, while the clearing temperature decreased by approximately 13 °C. We believe that the mechanism stabilizing the cholesteric blue phase is similar to that of polymer-stabilized cholesteric blue phases: the nanoparticles accumulate in the lattice disclinations, stabilizing the overall cholesteric blue structure.

Original languageEnglish
Article number121501
JournalApplied Physics Express
Volume2
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2009

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Engineering(all)
  • Physics and Astronomy(all)

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