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Science 30 July 1993:
Vol. 261. no. 5121, pp. 588 - 591
DOI: 10.1126/science.261.5121.588
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Articles

Structure of Membrane Surfactant and Liquid Crystalline Smectic Lamellar Phases Under Flow

Cyrus R. Safinya 1, Eric B. Sirota 2, Robijn F. Bruinsma 1, Claus Jeppesen 3, Robert J. Plano 2, and Lawrence J. Wenzel 4

1 Materials and Physics Departments and the Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106
2 Exxon Research and Engineering Company, Annandale, NJ 08801
3 Physics Department, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024
4 American Design Corporation, Stirling, NJ 07980

Synchrotron x-ray scattering studies were performed to probe the nonequilibrium structures of two layered systems at high shear rates: the smectic-A phase of the thermotropic liquid crystal 4-cyano-4'-octylbiphenyl (8CB) and the lamellar Lagr phases of surfactant membranes composed of sodium dodecyl sulfate and pentanol. Whereas the lamellar surfactant phases oriented primarily with their layers parallel to the shearing plates, as expected intuitively, in the corresponding high shear regime, the smectic-A liquid crystalline material oriented with the layers perpendicular to the shearing plates. A careful numerical study revealed that this surprising layer orientation results from nonlinear dynamics of the liquid crystal director and is caused by the flow distortion of thermal fluctuations.

Submitted on April 6, 1993
Accepted on June 4, 1993


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The X-ray Surface Forces Apparatus: Structure of a Thin Smectic Liquid Crystal Film Under Confinement.
S. H.J. Idziak, C. R. Safinya, R. S. Hill, K. E. Kraiser, M. Ruths, H. E. Warriner, S. Steinberg, K. S. Liang, and J. N. Israelachvili (1994)
Science 264, 1915-1918
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)