Control of liquid crystal alignment on polystyrene nanorod arrays

초록

Herein we demonstrate that the alignment of liquid crystals on a nanopatterned substrate can be controlled by the small variation of the size of the nanostructure. We fabricate hexagonally packed uniform polystyrene nanorod arrays and investigate the orientation of liquid crystals on the patterned surface. Homeotropic alignment is found on larger or longer rod arrays (diameter > 55 nm or length > 113 nm), while random alignment of liquid crystals is observed on smaller or shorter rod arrays. The change of liquid crystal orientation occurs with the small variation of the nanorod diameters or lengths.

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