Measurements of dynamics in an orientationally anisotropic system

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2004.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Borthwick, Matthew A. (Matthew Alan), 1973-
Other Authors: Simon G.J. Mochrie and J. David Litster.
Format: Thesis
Language:en_US
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2005
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/28644
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author Borthwick, Matthew A. (Matthew Alan), 1973-
author2 Simon G.J. Mochrie and J. David Litster.
author_facet Simon G.J. Mochrie and J. David Litster.
Borthwick, Matthew A. (Matthew Alan), 1973-
author_sort Borthwick, Matthew A. (Matthew Alan), 1973-
collection MIT
description Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2004.
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spelling mit-1721.1/286442019-04-12T09:24:28Z Measurements of dynamics in an orientationally anisotropic system Borthwick, Matthew A. (Matthew Alan), 1973- Simon G.J. Mochrie and J. David Litster. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics. Physics. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2004. Includes bibliographical references (p. 137-148). (cont.) coefficients, and these were compared to the "effective" coefficients yielded by the former. Because scattering from a nematic domain is limited to a narrow azimuthal range, while an isotropic domain scatters uniformly to all azimuthal angles, separate but simultaneous , measurements of dynamics in coexisting isotropic and orientationally ordered domains were possible. The observed correlation functions indicated that the flow-aligned, equilibrium nematic phase predominant just above the ordering transition was supplanted by a surface-aligned, nonequilibrium, "jammed" phase as the concentration of rods was further increased. We present X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering studies of charge-stabilized, rodlike boehmite (AlOOH) particles in semidilute and concentrated suspensions in glycerol, both in an isotropic phase and an orientationally ordered, lyotropic liquid crystalline phase. Using an array detector, simultaneous measurements were made along both the radial and azimuthal directions of the scattering vector. The measured scattering was compared to the isotropic, polydisperse rod form factor, and an electrical double-layer was included in the model. Two distinct sets of nematic ordering were seen in each sample: one, we believe, aligned by flow and the other by interactions with the sample cell surface. Two independent indications of weak, direction-dependent positional ordering in the nematic phase were observed. The first involved nematic order parameters obtained by fitting the scattering's azimuthal dependence at each radial coordinate. Those order parameters displayed an apparent increase near the interparticle structure factor peak. The second indication came from measurements of the radial interparticle structure factor peak position itself. In a small range of concentration just above the nematic transition, the peak position was independent of concentration, deviating from the otherwise-observed dependence on the square root of concentration. Equilibrium dynamics in the isotropic phase were studied on length scales well below the rod lengths. Time autocorrelation functions were fitted using the common double-exponential form as well as Maeda's matrix implementation of the Doi-Shimada-Okano self-consistent mean field form for the dynamic structure factor. The latter produced direct estimates of the by Matthew A. Borthwick. Ph.D. 2005-09-27T17:29:01Z 2005-09-27T17:29:01Z 2004 2004 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/28644 58918924 en_US M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 148 p. 8551078 bytes 8570799 bytes application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Physics.
Borthwick, Matthew A. (Matthew Alan), 1973-
Measurements of dynamics in an orientationally anisotropic system
title Measurements of dynamics in an orientationally anisotropic system
title_full Measurements of dynamics in an orientationally anisotropic system
title_fullStr Measurements of dynamics in an orientationally anisotropic system
title_full_unstemmed Measurements of dynamics in an orientationally anisotropic system
title_short Measurements of dynamics in an orientationally anisotropic system
title_sort measurements of dynamics in an orientationally anisotropic system
topic Physics.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/28644
work_keys_str_mv AT borthwickmatthewamatthewalan1973 measurementsofdynamicsinanorientationallyanisotropicsystem