Effects of surface-extended inorganic particles on phase transitions and luminescence properties of 5CB liquid crystal

Effects of different inorganic fillers with surface-extended anisotropic particles, such as carbon nanotubes (NT), organomodified montmorillonite clay mineral platelets (OMMT) and hybrid (NT-OMMT) dopants, on the 5CB aggregate state sequences and phase transition temperatures have been investigated in a wide temperature range and analyzed in a comparison with the properties of the 5CB in the bulk. The observed phenomena have been explained by structure peculiarities of the composite materials, studied by polarizing microscopy and luminescence spectroscopy methods. Large clusters of NT do not influence the 5CB nematic alignment, while OMMT and NT-OMMT particles form inorganic networks of uniformly distributed dopants, disturb the 5CB ordering, and the OMMT prevents formation of a glass-like state at cooling, as in pure 5CB.