Mesomorphism in a binary mixture of non-mesogens: A thermo-physical study

A comprehensive study on a liquid crystal formed by mixing two non-mesogens, viz., cholesterol and cetyl alcohol has been carried out. Polarized microscopic observations confirmed that the mixture exhibits smectic A phase below 48.2 °C. The mechanism possible for the formation of ordered liquid crystal phase when two non-mesogens are mixed is discussed. Density measured using a precision density meter was found to drop drastically in the vicinity of isotropic to smectic A transition temperature. The density fluctuations at the transition are discussed on the basis of: (i) the long wavelength limit of the structure factor and (ii) the critical exponent evaluated using modified Landau-de Gennes theory. The ultrasound velocity, determined using the interferometer method, drops drastically near the smectic A-isotropic transition temperature. The temperature-dependent data of density and ultrasound velocity enabled the evaluation of the adiabatic compressibility and acoustic impedance. The specific heat at constant pressure measured using differential scanning calorimetry shows a large increase in the vicinity of the phase transition. A correlation of thermodynamic functions to thermo-elastic properties was established through thermodynamic route. This relationship, along with experimentally measured quantities forms the basis for the thermo-physical characterization of the mixture. This facilitated the evaluation of specific heat at constant volume, the ratio of specific heats, the isothermal compressibility and the Grüneisen parameter across the smectic A-isotropic phase transition.