Phase Transitions of Nematic Gels Immersed in a Solution of Nematogens

抄録

We theoretically study volume phase transitions of a nematic gel immersed in mixed solvents, consisting of a low molecular weight liquid crystalline molecule (nematogen) and an isotropic solvent. Combining Flory model for an elastic free energy of the nematic gel with Maier–Saupe model for nematic ordering, we calculate the equilibrium swelling of the gel, orientational order parameters, and elongation of the gel as a function of the concentration of nematogens in the mixed solvents. We find an isotropic gel is discontinuously condensed into a nematic state with increasing the concentration of the nematogen. We also discuss swelling behaviors of the gel accompanying a nematic–isotropic phase separation in a bulk phase outside the gel.