Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals Science and Technology. Section A. Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals, Vol.367, 3243-3249, 2001
Spinodal decompositions driven by orientation fluctuations
We study early stages of spinodal decomposition (SD) in polymer/liquid crystal mixtures by solving linearized time-dependent Landau-Ginzburg equations for concentration (conserved order parameter) and orientation (nonconserved order parameter). We calculate structure factors for concentration and for orientation, depending on a quench temperature and concentration. We find a new SD process driven by instability of the orientational order parameter.
Keywords:spinodal decomposition;Lyotropic systems;landau-Ginzburg equations;structure factors;orientational fluctuations;concentration fluctuations