Self-assembly and UV-curing Property of Polymerized Lyotropic Liquid Crystal Monomer of Sodium 3,4,5-tris（ll-acryloxyundecyloxy）benzoate

A polymerized lyotropic liquid crystal monomer of sodium 3,4,5-tris（11-acryloxyundecyloxy）- benzoate was synthesized by a convenient route starting from 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid via esterification followed by etherification, acylation and finally neutralization. The chemi- cal structure was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared （FT-IR） and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectral analysis. The self-organization behavior of the monomer with deionized water in methanol at room temperature was also demonstrated. The assemblies were char- acterized by polarized optical microscope and X-ray diffraction. The results show that a solution containing 80：20 of the monomer to water was found to be able to self-organize into Lamellar （La） phase and 92：8 with inverted hexagonal （H]I） phase, which was in ac- cordance with the theoretical calculation of critical packing parameter. It suggests that the concentration of the monomer was the key factor to influence assembly structure. Addi- tionally, the acrylate conversion with different photoinitiators and nanostructure retention after polymerization were investigated. The research shows that the acrylate conversion of the monomer with Darocur2959 could reach up to 78% when irradiated by 30 mW/cm2 UV light of 365 nm for 30 min characterized by Real-time FT-IR as well as the sol-gel method. Meanwhile, the La and HII phase nanostructures were both retained after polymerization.

LYOTROPIC LIQUID CRYSTALLINE BEHAVIOR OF FIVE CHITOSAN DERIVATIVES

Five chitosan derivatives, i.e. O-butyryl chitosan, O-benzoyl chitosan, N-phthaloyl chitosan, N-maleoyl chitosan and O-cyanoethyl chitosan, were prepared from chitosan. All of them had better solubility than chitosan, and demonstrated lyotropic liquid crystalline behavior in various solvents. The critical liquid crystalline behavior of three O-substituted chitosan derivatives was evidently different from two N-substituted analogues. Typical fingerprint textures of cholesteric phase were only observed in three O-substituted derivatives. The critical concentration (v/v%) of three O-substituted derivatives does not depend on the acidity of acidic solvents.

Studies on the Phase Behavior of Lyotropic Liquid Crystal in DAD/C_4OH/n-C_8H_(18)/D_2O System

The lytropic liquid crystals in dodecanic acid diethanolamine (DAD) /n-butanol (C4OH) /octane (n-C8H18) /deuteron (D2O) system were studied to determine the phase regions and were investigated by 2H-NMR spectroscopy,optical polarizing microscope and small-angle X-ray diffraction (SAXD) methods.The results indicate that the lamellar,hexagonal and cubic liquid crystals all exist in the above system.Keeping the weight ratio of DAD and C4OH constant,the microphase Structure,2H quadruple splitting and the interlayer spacing are all changed with the addition of deuteron.

Stable graphene oxide-based lyotropic liquid crystals for interfacial lubrication

Lyotropic liquid crystals have lubricating properties due to their ordered assembly and fluidity,whose mesogens are often characterized by amphiphilic properties.Despite the attention that graphene oxide(GO)has been studied as a novel amphiphilic lyotropic mesogen this decade,and GO applied as a lubrication additive has been demonstrated in both oil and water-based systems,little research reveals the interfacial lubrication of GO liquid crystals yet.This work reports that GO aqueous dispersion can form lyotropic liquid crystals above a specific critical concentration of 5.00 mg/mL,providing a form of stable water-based lubricant,which can keep stable for several months and can reduce friction by 37.3%and wear by 25.24%.The liquid crystal phase was verified by polarizing microscope and synchrotron radiation small-angle X-ray scattering,and its rheological properties and viscoelasticity were studied by interfacial rheometer.The formation of lyotropic liquid crystals can enhance the stability of GO aqueous dispersions at high density,simultaneously ensuring friction decrease and anti-wear effect.It is attributed to the stable nematic network by the ordered GO sheets.The ordered assembly structure bears vertical shear force,therefore,reducing the wear.It is also assumed that the wide lateral size of graphene oxide promotes the nematic phase thus smoothes the graphene oxide film composed spontaneously under the coincidence of lamellar liquid crystal and 2D layered material.Through this work,the interlayer lubrication of GO was optimized,and the problem of GO dispersion sedimentation was solved by self-assembly.The range of interfacial lubrication of GO aqueous dispersion has been expanded and the synergistic effect is conducive to the environmentally friendly lubricants.

Formulation of lyotropic liquid crystal emulsion based on natural sucrose ester and its tribological behavior as novel lubricant

The tribological behavior of oil-in-water emulsions formulated with natural lyotropic liquid crystal(LLC)emulsifiers based on natural sucrose ester was studied for the first time.Polarized optical microscopy,synchrotron radiation small-angle X-ray scattering,wide-angle X-ray scattering,and synchrotron radiation infrared microspectroscopy demonstrated that LLC emulsifiers were tightly ordered at the oil–water interface with a distinct nematic texture.The viscosity of emulsion was observed to change over time.Moreover,the zeta potential and laser particle size distribution verified the emulsion’s satisfactory stability.The frictional shearing test proved that the coefficient of friction of the emulsion versus pure oil decreased by 34.2%.The coefficient of friction of the emulsion with liquid crystal decreased 10.1%versus that without liquid crystal.Although liquid crystal emulsion did not exhibit outstanding anti-wear performance compared with pure oil,its wear volume was 29.4%less than the emulsion without liquid crystal.X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscope–energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(SEM–EDS)proved that the tribo-film of the emulsion with liquid crystal was formed synergistically by the liquid crystal phase with the base oil.The formulation affecting the lubricant quality was further studied by orthogonal experiments.The resulting Stribeck curve behavior suggested that proper composition with a slightly higher viscosity can better reduce friction in both boundary lubrication and mixed lubrication regimes.The lubrication mechanism indicated that the periodically ordered liquid crystal was transported to the sliding asperity in the form of emulsion droplets,which bored the pressure and released the oil to form a tribo-film.This LLC emulsion is environmentally friendly and potentially non-irritant to the skin.Thus,it has promising application prospects as novel water-based and biological lubricants.

LYOTROPIC AND THERMOTROPIC LIQUID CRYSTALL INE TRIALKYL CELLULOSES OBTAINED DIRECTLY FROM CELLULOSE ACETATE IN DIMETHYL SULFOXIDE

Highly substituted n-atkyl celluloses with sidechains 3 to 10 carbon atoms long have been prepared from cellulose acetate, sodium hydroxide and n-alkyl bromides with dimethyl sulfoxide as solvent. Synthetic conditions of n-alkyl celluloses were studied with respect to reaction temperature, time and yield. The molecular structure of the n-alkyl celluloses, which were obtained as white powders or as sticky, soft and birefringent solids at room temperature, was investigated by IR and NMR spectra and elemental analysis. The highly substituted n-alkyl celluloses all exhibited both therotropic and lyotropic liquid crystalline cholesteric phases in some non-polar solvents. The metting behavior and solubility of the n-alkyl celluloses were examined.

STUDIES ON CRITICAL CONCENTRATION OF LIQUID CRYSTALLINE ETHYLCELLULOSE

Critical concentrations of lyotropic liquid crystalline ethylcellulose in more than ten solvents were determined using both Abbe refractometer and polarized microscopy. Critical concentration C-crit of forming Liquid crystal phase decreased with increasing solubility parameter delta of solvent until approaching the delta of polymer. Although the alcohols used as solvents had the same variation rule, the critical concentration values of their solutions were much higher, due to their excessive large hydrogen bond component of delta. The experiments of using mixed solvents which showed good linear relation between C-crit and delta also proved this rule. A technique of Transmission Optical Analysis was first used to estimate the concentration dependence of critical phase transition temperature T-crit of EC, and a T-C phase diagram could be drawn.

Phase Behavior of Liquid Crystals Formed in [C12mim]CI/H2O and [C12mim] Cl/Alcohols Systems

Phase behaviors of different binary systems involving 1-dodecyl-3-methylimidazolium chlo- ride （[C12mim]Cl） and H20, [C12mim]Cl and different alcohols （1-butanol, 1-pentanol, 1- hexanol and 1-octanol） are investigated at 25 ℃. Hexagonal liquid crystal phase （H1） is identified in [C12mim]Cl/H2O system, and lamellar liquid-crystalline （Lα） phase is found in [C12mim]Cl/alcohols systems by using polarized optical microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering techniques. The formation of such phases is considered as a synergetic result of the solvatophobic force and the hydrogen-bonded network comprising an imidazoliuin ring, chloride ion and water （or alcohols）, which can be confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectra. It is noticeable that in [C12mim]Cl/1-octanol system, the lattice spacings of lamellar phase increase with increasing C12mimCl concentration, which is opposite to the results of [C12mim]Cl/H2O system. This may result mainly from stronger static repulsion among hydrophilic headgroups of imidazolium salts arranged in the bilayers of lamellar structures. Further measurements by differential scanning calorimetry indicate that the lamellar phase is stable within a wide temperature range above room temperature. However, the lattice spacings decrease with the increase of temperature, which may. be due to the softening of the hydrocarbon chain of [C12mim]Cl molecules. In different alcohols systems, it is found that the lamellar lyotropic liquid crystal structure is easier to be formed when the carbon chain length becomes longer.

INFRARED SPECTROSCOPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF CONFORMATIONAL DEFECTS OF POLYBENZAMIDE

Theoretical results of normal coordinate analysis of polybenzamide performed with two conformational isomerized models, the cis trans and the all-trans conformation, have been adopted to examine a number of infrared spectra of films of the polymer treated in a subsequent annealing process and a cooling process. It shows, in this investigation, that two sets of infrared spectral profiles around 1400 cm^(-1) and 900 cm^(-1) behave quite attractively. Their spectral behaviours have been correlated to the conformational defect variation in samples, and reasonably predicted by the normal coordinate calculation.

Doping silver nanoparticles in AOT lyotropic lamellar phases

The organic lyotropic liquid crystal with long-range structural order is used as template to assemble inorganic/organic hybrid by doping pre-fabricated Ag nanoparticles. The lamellar hybrid with both hydrophilic and hydrophobic particles doped simultaneously is realized for the first time. The change of template structure after doping and the stability origin of dual-doped system are characterized by small angle X-ray scattering and polarized optical microscopy. Results show that the interaction and space matching between surfactant bilayers and doped particles are key factors to obtain stable hybrid.