Phase Transitions in Nematic Fluids

Phase transitions of nematic rubbers

– Single-crystal nematic elastomers undergo a transition from a strongly ordered phase N to an “isotropic” phase I. We show that: a) samples produced under tension by the Finkelmann procedure are intrinsically anisotropic and should show a small (temperaturedependent) birefringence in the high-temperature I phase; b) for the I → N transition via cooling there is a spinodal limit but for the N →...

Phase transitions in lyotropic nematic gels.

In this paper, we discuss the equilibrium phases and collapse transitions of a lyotropic nematic gel immersed in an isotropic solvent. A nematic gel consists of a cross-linked polymer network with rod-like molecules embedded in it. Upon decreasing the quality of the solvent, we find that a lyotropic nematic gel undergoes a discontinuous volume change accompanied by an isotropic-nematic transiti...

Interfacial phase transitions in conducting fluids.

We present a review, largely based on recent experimental work of our group, on phase transitions at interfaces of fluid metals, alloys and ionic liquids. After a brief analysis of possible experimental errors and limitations of surface sensitive methods, we first deal with first-order wetting transitions at the liquid/vapour and liquid/wall interface in systems such as Ga-based alloys, K-KCl m...

Phase transitions of fluids in novel geometries

The discovery of carbon nanotubes implied that one-dimensional models of theoretical physics can be tested in the laboratory. This talk describes a series of studies concerning gases within, outside and between nanotubes and bundles of carbon nanotubes (similar to spaghetti in a box) and other regular porous materials. The results, surprising in some cases, yield behavior corresponding to 1, 2,...

Surface-layer phase transitions in nematic liquid crystals.