Uniaxial - biaxial lyotropic cholesteric phase transition of lyotropic liquid crystals

A Landau model is proposed to describe the uniaxial - biaxial lyotropic cholesteric phase transition of lyotropic liquid crystals (LLC). The model free energy is based on a mixture of rod-shaped and disc-shaped micelles. The possibility of the existence of two biaxial lyotropic cholesteric phases and two uniaxial lyotropic cholesteric phases of LLC is discussed. The phase transitions between two biaxial lyotropic cholesteric phases and two uniaxial lyotropic cholesteric phases are explored. Qualitative comparisons between theoretical predictions and recent experimental results are discussed.

Automated summary

A Landau model is proposed to explain the uniaxial - biaxial lyotropic cholesteric phase transition of lyotropic liquid crystals. The model considers a mixture of rod-shaped and disc-shaped micelles as the basis for the free energy. The study discusses the possibility of two biaxial and two uniaxial lyotropic cholesteric phases, and explores the phase transitions between them. Qualitative comparisons between theoretical predictions and experimental results are also discussed.