Synergistically controlled in situ growth of silver nanoparticles leading to organization of anisotropic liquid crystalline medium

An in-depth macroscopic and microscopic investigation is carried out regarding understanding phase ordering and organisation of nematic phase of a room temperature nematic liquid crystal (NLC) MBBA (<i>N</i>-(4-methoxybenzylidene)-4-butylaniline) in the presence of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) which are synthesised in situ in a single step using MBBA as a template as well as a reducing and stabilising unit. A synergistic effect between anisotropic LC structure and morphologies of AgNPs is observed. The LC-AgNP composite exhibits better thermal stability and phase ordering compared to its neat LC counterpart as indicated by combined study of optical polarization microscopy (OPM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). While OPM study exhibits emergence of smectic mesophase in LC-AgNP composites, DSC manifests significant enhancement in the isotropic temperature and associated enthalpy as well as a change in the kinetic behaviour in LC-AgNP composites compared to neat LC. Also, an alternation in the electronic properties of LC-AgNP composites compared to neat LC is recognised. Such ordering at the macroscopic scale is well supported by our microscopic observations through spectroscopic studies such as Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) which provides valuable insights regarding understanding the organisation process more closely.