Influence of gold nanorods size on electro-optical and dielectric properties of ferroelectric liquid crystals

The influence of the gold nanorods (GNRs) diameter on the electro-optic and dielectric properties of the ferroelectric liquid crystals (FLCs) was investigated. It was shown that dispersing of GNRs in FLCs could lead to an increase of the internal electric field inside the liquid crystalline layer. This effect results in a significant decrease of the switching time and the rotational viscosity of the FLC/GNRs nanodispersions independently on the GNRs diameter. Oppositely, the relaxation frequency and the dielectric strength of the Goldstone mode strongly depend on the GNRs diameter, which can be explained by the charge transfer between the GNRs and FLC molecules. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3517486]