ABSTRACTNematic liquid crystal filled with Aerosil particles prospective inorganic-organic nanocom-posite material for optoelectronic application has been investigated by broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS) and photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS). The aerosil particles of diameter ≈ 10 nm in filled nematic liquid crystals form a network structure with linear size of LC domains about 250 nm and with random distribution of the director orientation of each domain. This material has a very developed liquid crystal-solid particle interface that makes the role of the surface layers of LC important in the determination of the properties of the material. BDS provides information on reorientational motion of polar molecules of liquid crystal while PCS probes dynamics of collective modes associated with director fluctuations. We found that the properties of 5CB are considerably affected by the network. Two bulk-like dielectric modes due to the rotation of molecules around short axes and the tumbling motion were observed in filled 5CB. Additionally, a low frequency relaxation process and dispersion of dielectric permittivity due to conductivity were observed. The treatment of the surface of filling particles has strongest influence on the properties of the slow process and it is less important for molecular modes. PCS experiment shows that two new relaxation processes appear in filled 5CB in addition to the director fluctuations process in bulk.
Ionische dielektrische Relaxationsprozesse in Festkörpern, I / Ionic Dielectric Relaxation Processes in Solids, I
