This article is cited in 1 paper

Liquid crystals

Surface tension of free-standing smectic films

A. V. Zakharov, A. A. Vakulenko

Institute of Problems of Mechanical Engineering, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg

Abstract: A generalized mean-field model, which takes into account the anisotropic interactions between the nearest neighbor molecules (forming free-standing smectic films (FSSFs)) and the stabilizing effect of smectic-air interfaces, has been used for numerically studying the structural and thermodynamic properties of these systems during their layer-by-layer thinning. The results of calculating the surface tension $\gamma$ of a partially fluorinated liquid-crystal compound formed by 5-$n$-alkyl-2-(4-$n$-(perfluoroalkyl-methyleneoxy))pentyl (H10F5MOPP) molecules have demonstrated that the value of $\gamma$ per FSSF molecule undergoes a stepwise increase during layer-by-layer thinning of the film. The dimensional surface tension during the layer-thinning of a 25 layer FSSF formed by H10F5MOPP molecules varies insignificantly within $\sim$19 dyn/cm, which agrees with the experimental value ($\sim$14 dyn/cm) for this liquid-crystal compound.

Received: 13.12.2010

 English version: Physics of the Solid State, 2011, 53:7, 1521–1526

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