New material design for liquid crystals and composites by magneto-processing
We have tried to form a variety of oriented structures in liquid crystalline materials and composites by magneto-processing. Using photo-curable liquid crystal (LC), homogeneous, homeotropic, and bend oriented structures were fixed in the films. Moreover, UV light was irradiated to the LC monomers through a photomask under the magnetic field. The pattern was successfully recorded in the film by molecular orientation. Low viscous branched LC molecules, LCs based on calix [4] resorcinarene and dendrimer, synthesized in this study could be highly aligned under the magnetic fields. The smectic structures of these LC materials were demonstrated from X-ray diffraction results of the magneto-oriented samples. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were aligned parallel to the field direction in polycarbonate (PC). Moreover, magneto-oriented CNTs remarkably enhanced the recrystallization of the PC during annealing.