The alignment and dynamic response of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in nematic liquid crystal (NLC) medium induced by strong electric field have been observed through polarizing optical microscope. Density-functional calculations suggest that LC molecule anchors helically to the CNT wall to enhance π-stacking with a binding energy of nearly -2.0 eV due to a considerable amount of charge transfer from LC molecule to CNT, resulting in the formation of excess charges and permanent dipole moment in CNTs. Under strong electric field, the motion of CNTs distorted the director of adjacent LC molecules. Our detailed analysis of dynamics revealed that the four-lobe textures in vertical cell and two vertical stripes in in-plane switching cell were strongly correlated, i.e., the side view of textures by the vertical motion of CNTs in vertical cell was similar to the textures in in-plane switching cell. Interestingly, the magnitude of textures in microscope was strongly dependent on the size of CNTs and the applied field strength. The statistical size distribution of textures similar to that of CNTs provided information for the degree of dispersion of CNTs.
Binary Mixture Composed of Nematic Liquid Crystal and Carbon Nanotubes: A Theoretical Description
