PA01 Effects of liquid-crystal phase structures on dynamic viscoelastic properties of particle/liquid-crystal composite gels

Abstract

We investigated the effects of phase structures of liquid crystalline matrices on viscoelastic properties of particle/liquid-crystal composite gels. The storage and loss moduli of the gel containing smectic A (SmA) matrix were much larger than that containing nematic matrix. However, the critical strain at which the gel state transformed into the sol state by the application of mechanical strain showed no significant changes with variation in the phase structures. These results indicate that the introduction of a layered molecular assembly present in SmA phase could be effective for rigidification of composite gels, while maintaining their critical strains.