Structuralization of magnetic nanoparticles in 5CB liquid crystals.

Gdovinová, Veronika; Schroer, Martin A; Tomašovičová, Natália; Appel, Ingo; Behrens, Silke; Majorošová, Jozefína; Kováč, Jozef; Svergun, Dmitri I et al. · Soft Matter · 2017

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

This work is devoted to the study of highly stable composite systems of the liquid crystal 4-n-pentyl-4'-cyanobiphenyl (5CB) doped with CoFe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> magnetic nanoparticles. Ferronematic samples were prepared with two different weight concentrations: sample A 0.085 wt% and sample B 0.062 wt%. The interaction of CoFe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> nanoparticles with the liquid crystal was investigated by small-angle X-ray-scattering and magnetization measurements. The obtained results reveal aggregates formed by magnetic nanoparticles that are oriented in the nematic phase. Moreover, the prepared samples show unexpected behaviour of a sudden change in magnetization, which is unusual for such ferronematics.