Title

Director Configuration Transitions of Polyelectrolyte Coated Liquid-Crystal Droplets

Authors

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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