A surface-alignable micellar nematic.
01 January 1986
The system lithium 4-trans-pentyl cyclohexanoate water forms lyotropic nematic and columnar phases. Unlike most lyotropic nematics, this one is alignable by surface forces in much the same way as "thermotropic" (molecular) nematics. Upon drying, a columnar phase grows into the nematic, showing a strong preferential direction of the column axes. This material should be useful in studying the nematic-columnar transition and other investigations in which it is useful to have an aligned micellar nematic.