Length Bidisperse Carbon Nanotubes Dispersions in Thermotropic Liquid Crystals

We study nematic liquid crystal driven alignment of carbon nanotubes dispersed in them. We extend the mesoscopic model presented in (P. Van der Schoot et al. 2008, V. Popa-Nita, and S. Kralj 2010) including the effect of length bidispersity of carbon nanotubes. The free energy of the mixture is written as the sum of the Doi free energy for lyotropic nematic ordering of the two carbon nanotubes types, the Landau-de Gennes free energy for the thermotropic ordering of liquid crystal, and the coupling term between liquid crystal molecules and carbon nanotubes. The phase ordering of the mixtures is analyzed as a function of volume fraction, the strength of coupling, and the temperature.