Alignment of liquid crystal/carbon nanotube dispersions for application in unconventional computing

Massey, M.K.; Volpati, D.; Qaiser, F.; Kotsialos, A.; Pearson, C.; Zeze, D.A.; Petty, M.C.

doi:10.1063/1.4912538

Alignment of liquid crystal/carbon nanotube dispersions for application in unconventional computing

Massey, M.K.; Volpati, D.; Qaiser, F.; Kotsialos, A.; Pearson, C.; Zeze, D.A.; Petty, M.C.

Authors

M.K. Massey

D. Volpati

F. Qaiser

A. Kotsialos

C. Pearson

D.A. Zeze

M.C. Petty

Abstract

We demonstrate the manipulation of single-walled carbon nanotube/liquid crystal composites using in-plane electric fields. The conductivity of the materials is shown to be dependant on the application of a DC bias across the electrodes. When the materials are subjected to this in-plane field, it is suggested that the liquid crystals orientate, thereby forcing the SWCNTs to follow in alignment. This process occurs over many seconds, since the SWCNTs are significantly larger in size than the liquid crystals. The opportunity for applying this material to unconventional computing problems is suggested.

Citation

Massey, M., Volpati, D., Qaiser, F., Kotsialos, A., Pearson, C., Zeze, D., & Petty, M. (2015). Alignment of liquid crystal/carbon nanotube dispersions for application in unconventional computing. . https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4912538

Conference Name	International Conference on Numercal Analysis and Applied Mathematics
Conference Location	Rhodes, Greece
Publication Date	Jan 1, 2015
Deposit Date	Apr 17, 2015
Publicly Available Date	Apr 23, 2015
Volume	1648
Series ISSN	0094-243X,1551-7616
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4912538
Keywords	Liquid crystal alignment, Carbon nanotubes, Unconventional computing.

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© 2015 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in AIP Conference Proceedings 1648, 280009 (2015) and may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4912538.