Phase behavior of a nematic liquid crystal in polybutadiene networks

Phase behavior of polybutadiene (PB) networks swollen in nematic liquid crystal p-ethoxybenzylidene-p-n-butylaniline (EBBA) strongly depends on whether there is surrounding EBBA: without the surrounding EBBA, EBBA in PB networks fails to form the nematic phase; in the presence of the surrounding EBBA, the nematic phase is formed inside the gels. The results suggest that a high order of molecular alignment in the surrounding nematic EBBA induces the formation of nematic phase inside the gels and the inducement effects overcome a high dilution effect of the impurity (PB) on the interaction between EBBA molecules.