TY - JOUR
T1 - Temperature-induced liquid crystal microdroplet formation in a partially miscible liquid mixture
AU - Patel, Mehzabin
AU - Radhakrishnan, Anand N.P.
AU - Bescher, Ludovic
AU - Hunter-Sellars, Elwin
AU - Schmidt-Hansberg, Benjamin
AU - Amstad, Esther
AU - Ibsen, Stuart
AU - Guldin, Stefan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Royal Society of Chemistry 2020.
PY - 2021/1/28
Y1 - 2021/1/28
N2 - Liquid-in-liquid droplets are typically generated by the partitioning of immiscible fluids,e.g.by mechanical shearing with macroscopic homogenisers or microfluidic flow focussing. In contrast, partially miscible liquids with a critical solution temperature display a temperature-dependent mixing behaviour. In this work, we demonstrate how, for a blend of methanol (MeOH) and the thermotropic liquid crystal (LC) 4-Cyano-4′-pentylbiphenyl (5CB), cooling from a miscible to an immiscible state allows the controlled formation of microdroplets. A near-room-temperature-induced phase separation leads to nucleation, growth and coalescence of mesogen-rich droplets. The size and number of the droplets is tunable on the microscopic scale by variation of temperature quench depth and cooling rate. Further cooling induces a phase transition to nematic droplets with radial configuration, well-defined sizes and stability over the course of an hour. This temperature-induced approach offers a scalable and reversible alternative to droplet formation with relevance in diagnostics, optoelectronics, materials templating and extraction processes.
AB - Liquid-in-liquid droplets are typically generated by the partitioning of immiscible fluids,e.g.by mechanical shearing with macroscopic homogenisers or microfluidic flow focussing. In contrast, partially miscible liquids with a critical solution temperature display a temperature-dependent mixing behaviour. In this work, we demonstrate how, for a blend of methanol (MeOH) and the thermotropic liquid crystal (LC) 4-Cyano-4′-pentylbiphenyl (5CB), cooling from a miscible to an immiscible state allows the controlled formation of microdroplets. A near-room-temperature-induced phase separation leads to nucleation, growth and coalescence of mesogen-rich droplets. The size and number of the droplets is tunable on the microscopic scale by variation of temperature quench depth and cooling rate. Further cooling induces a phase transition to nematic droplets with radial configuration, well-defined sizes and stability over the course of an hour. This temperature-induced approach offers a scalable and reversible alternative to droplet formation with relevance in diagnostics, optoelectronics, materials templating and extraction processes.
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U2 - 10.1039/d0sm01742f
DO - 10.1039/d0sm01742f
M3 - Article
C2 - 33284300
AN - SCOPUS:85100598868
SN - 1744-683X
VL - 17
SP - 947
EP - 954
JO - Soft Matter
JF - Soft Matter
IS - 4
ER -