Uniaxial alignment of nematic liquid crystals filling vacant spaces in surface-treated nanofibre nonwoven

Abstract

ABSTRACT Nematic liquid crystals (NLCs) absorbed in a nonwoven of surface-treated silica nanofibres (SiO2-NFs) orient the director along the nonwoven thickness direction if the NLCs prefer homeotropic anchoring onto the fibre surface. The nonwoven has vacant spaces with the dimensions of 0.3 and 0.6 μm in the thickness and cross directions, respectively, bordered with SiO2-NFs with 93 nm in diameter. The SiO2-NF surface was treated with a silane-coupling agent to induce the homeotropic anchoring of NLC mesogens onto the surface. The nematic director is arranged radially from the fibres although it is more severely constrained by the proximity between fibre surfaces along the thickness direction. Consequently, the NLCs can align along the nonwoven thickness direction involving −1/2 wedge disclinations on both sides of the fibres. Graphical Abstract