Hygroscopic study of hydroxypropylcellulose: Structure and strain-induced birefringence of capillary bridges

TitleHygroscopic study of hydroxypropylcellulose: Structure and strain-induced birefringence of capillary bridges
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2016
AuthorsGodinho MH a, Pieranski P b, Sotta P c
JournalEuropean Physical Journal E
Volume39
ISSN12928941
KeywordsBirefringence, Capillary bridges, Humidity control, Hydroxypro-pylcellulose, Hygroscopic methods, Isotropic samples, Liquid crystals, Lyotropic liquid crystal, Soft matter, Strain induced birefringence, Uniaxial deformation
Abstract

Abstract.: The hygroscopic method developed previously for studies of lyotropic liquid crystals is used for the first time in experiments with millimetric capillary bridges made of a hydroxypropylcellulose/water mixture. Composition of such very small samples is controlled via humidity of the surrounding air. By a slow and well-controlled drying of initially isotropic samples, the isotropic/anisotropic phase transition is crossed and polydomain pseudo-isotropic capillary bridges are prepared. Kept in an atmosphere of constant humidity, these bridges are stretched and the strain-induced birefringence ∆n is measured as a function of the draw ratio λ. The variation of ∆n with λ is interpreted in terms of an affine uniaxial deformation of the initial pseudo-isotropic texture. © 2016, EDP Sciences, SIF, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

URLhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84988851130&doi=10.1140%2fepje%2fi2016-16089-2&partnerID=40&md5=57a0193a5a8082ce19d78d9f99c70ec6
DOI10.1140/epje/i2016-16089-2