Open AccessIntroduction to Optical Methods for Characterizing Liquid Crystals at Interfaces
Author(s) -
Daniel S. Miller,
Rebecca J. Carlton,
Peter C. Mushenheim,
Nicholas L. Abbott
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
langmuir
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.042
H-Index - 333
eISSN - 1520-5827
pISSN - 0743-7463
DOI - 10.1021/la304679f
Subject(s) - liquid crystal , instrumentation (computer programming) , focus (optics) , nanotechnology , materials science , emulsion , planar , anchoring , graduate students , computer science , chemistry , optics , optoelectronics , physics , organic chemistry , computer graphics (images) , engineering , psychology , pedagogy , structural engineering , operating system
This Instructional Review describes methods and underlying principles that can be used to characterize both the orientations assumed spontaneously by liquid crystals (LCs) at interfaces and the strength with which the LCs are held in those orientations (so-called anchoring energies). The application of these methods to several different classes of LC interfaces is described, including solid and aqueous interfaces as well as planar and nonplanar interfaces (such as those that define a LC-in-water emulsion droplet). These methods, which enable fundamental studies of the ordering of LCs at polymeric, chemically functionalized, and biomolecular interfaces, are described in this Instructional Review on a level that can be easily understood by a nonexpert reader such as an undergraduate or graduate student. We focus on optical methods because they are based on instrumentation that is found widely in research and teaching laboratories.