Fundamental Measurements on an Aggregated Dye Liquid Crystal
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2005
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Swarthmore College. Dept. of Physics & Astronomy
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Thesis (B.A.)
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Abstract
The nematic liquid crystal phase is a phase of matter in which the particles have a preferred
orientational direction, as opposed to the liquid phase, with no preferred direction, and the
solid crystal phase, with an ordered lattice structure. In an aggregated dye, or chromonic,
liquid crystal, molecules come together in aggregates, and these aggregates form a liquid
crystal. Aggregated dyes that form liquid crystals have been known for some time, but
few fundamental measurements have been taken prior to this research. Unlike most liquid
crystals, aggregated dye liquid crystals are water-soluble, opening the door to applications
of liquid crystals in the fields of biology and medicine. In order to move ahead with explorations
of applications and general understanding of chromonic liquid crystals, more must
be known about the properties of this phase; thus, this research focuses on one aggregated
dye liquid crystal, aqueous Sunset Yellow FCF. Phase diagram measurements, birefringence
measurements, and order parameter measurements were obtained for aqueous Sunset Yellow.
A general model of the aggregation consistent with both the results of the birefringence
measurements and the results of the order parameter measurements is suggested in which
the nitrogen-nitrogen double bonds of the Sunset Yellow molecule are perpendicular to the
long axis of the aggregate.