3A10 Orientational fluctuation of SmC Langmuir monolayers on dilute gel solutions

Abstract

The orientational fluctuation of SmC Langmuir monolayers was studied by means of polarized light scattering. We used several kinds of hydrogel solutions and examined how the gelation of the subphase should influence the viscoelastic properties of the monolayers. The director fluctuation depended on both the LC compounds and the hydrogels, and was considerably suppressed by the subphase gelation. The result can be ascribed to the adsorption of the gel molecules onto the LC monolayers followed by the formation of the local gel networks at the interface.