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Smectic Liquid‐Crystalline Order in Suspensions of Highly Polydisperse Goethite Nanorods
Author(s) -
Vroege G. J.,
ThiesWeesie D. M. E.,
Petukhov A. V.,
Lemaire B. J.,
Davidson P.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.200601112
Subject(s) - nanorod , materials science , dispersity , goethite , liquid crystal , phase (matter) , sedimentation , nanostructure , bragg's law , chemical physics , scattering , nanotechnology , chemical engineering , optics , polymer chemistry , chemistry , diffraction , optoelectronics , organic chemistry , paleontology , physics , adsorption , engineering , sediment , biology
Optical Bragg reflections and small‐angle X‐ray scattering (see figure) reveal that dispersions of Goethite (FeOOH) nanorods spontaneously form layered (smectic A) structures, although their 55 % length polydispersity exceeds the theoretical limit by a factor of three. Here, sedimentation and size partitioning contribute to a very rich phase behavior including nematic and columnar phases. This suggests the application of the self‐organizing tendencies of such mineral liquid crystals to obtain materials with very diverse nanostructures.