Director Configuration Transitions of Polyelectrolyte Coated Liquid-Crystal Droplets

    Authors

    J. H. Zou; T. Bera; A. A. Davis; W. L. Liang;J. Y. Fang

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    J. Phys. Chem. B

    Keywords

    SELF-ASSEMBLED MONOLAYERS; IONIC-STRENGTH; EMULSIONS; MULTILAYERS; FILMS; INTERFACES; STABILITY; VIRUSES; PHASES; GROWTH; Chemistry, Physical

    Abstract

    Liquid-crystal droplets are of great interest because of their large surface areas, rich phases, and tunable optical properties. The director configuration of liquid-crystal droplets provides a unique optical sign to detect the events occurring at the droplet surface. In this article, we report the alternating bipolar/radial configuration transitions of 4-n-pentyl-4'-cyanobiphenyl (SCB) droplets triggered by the layer-by-layer coating of negatively charged poly(styrenesulfonate sodium (PSS) and positively charged poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC) on the droplet surface. The alternating configuration transitions are due to the interactions of the SCB with polar versus nonpolar PDADMAC/PSS multilayer coatings. Furthermore, we find that the coating of PDADMAC/PSS multilayers makes the director configuration of the SCB in the droplets sensitive to environmental salt concentrations.

    Journal Title

    Journal of Physical Chemistry B

    Volume

    115

    Issue/Number

    29

    Publication Date

    1-1-2011

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    8970

    Last Page

    8974

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000292893300003

    ISSN

    1520-6106

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