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P‐155: Analysis of Solubilization of Surface‐Modified Carbon Nanotube in Nematic Liquid Crystal Using Flory‐Huggins Theory
Author(s) -
Huang Kevin Y. C.,
Fuh Andy Y. G.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
sid symposium digest of technical papers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.351
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 2168-0159
pISSN - 0097-966X
DOI - 10.1889/1.3621205
Subject(s) - carbon nanotube , liquid crystal , materials science , solubility , hildebrand solubility parameter , nanotube , thermodynamics , chemical engineering , polymer , polymer chemistry , organic chemistry , nanotechnology , composite material , chemistry , physics , optoelectronics , engineering
An analytic study on the solubility behavior between 4′‐n‐pentyl‐4‐cyano‐biphenyl (5CB) liquid crystal and Maleic anhydride (MA) grafted surface‐modified single walled carbon nanotube (CNTs‐MA) using the prestigious Flory‐Huggins model is presented. The statistical thermodynamics of the Flory‐Huggins mean‐field theory is for the first time, applied in the solubility study of the ill‐famed issue of blending liquid crystals with carbon nanotubes. In conjunction with the Monte Carlo calculations, we discovered that at room temperature, this functionalized carbon nanotube can dissolve in the 5CB nematogens when the grafting ratio of the MA functional groups reaches up to 20 atomic wt%. Although it may not be for a perfectly exact prediction with respect to the mixture of liquid crystal combined with carbon nanotubes, we believe this mesoscale simulation can still offer reliable tends and directions toward the analysis of designing “liquid crystal‐soluble” carbon nanotubes in order for this novel composite to become a practical homogeneous nanosolution, and realize its promises in the future.