Nanoparticle-Stabilized Cholesteric Blue Phases

The authors report the expansion of the temperature range of cholesteric blue phases by doping nanoparticles. When spherical gold nanoparticles with a mean diameter of 3.7 nm were doped in a blue phase-exhibiting multi-component liquid crystal mixture, the temperature range of the cholesteric blue phase increased from 0.5 to 5 degrees C, while the clearing temperature decreased by approximately 13 degrees C. We believe that the mechanism stabilizing the cholesteric blue phase is similar to that of polymer-stabilized cholesteric blue phases: the nanoparticles accumulate in the lattice disclinations, stabilizing the overall cholesteric blue structure. (C) 2009 The Japan Society of Applied Physics DOI: 10.1143/APEX.2.121501