1.
Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys
; 73(5 Pt 1): 051703, 2006 May.
Artigo
em Inglês
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-16802950
RESUMO
We studied molecular organization in cylindrical nanocavities using liquid crystals. NMR analysis shows high surface-induced ordering way above the bulk critical temperature. The surface-order evolution reveals replacement of the isotropic phase by a paranematic phase and surface-induced disordering in the nematic phase. Due to strong surface potential and nanoconfinement, complete wetting and continuous evolution of the surface-order parameter are observed through the nematic-paranematic transition. As we show, the counter-intuitive absence of complete phase transition at the interface while an abrupt phase transition was measured in the averaged order parameter is in good agreement with established theories.