Effect of the liquid crystal solute on the rotator phase transitions of n-alkanes

Abstract

Recent experimental studies have shown that the liquid crystal substance plays an important role in determining the structures and the phase transitions of the different rotator phases in binary mixtures of n-alkane and liquid crystals. The mixtures exhibit crystal and four different rotator phases R_I, R_II, R_III and R_V, although the R_III phase is absent in pure alkane. We described these experimental observations within phenomenological theory. The influence of the liquid crystal solute on the rotator phase transitions and the transition temperatures was discussed by varying the coupling between the concentration variable and the order parameters. The theoretical predictions were found to be in good qualitative agreement with the experimental results.