Advances in Liquid Crystals

Advances in Liquid Crystals, Volume I is a collection of papers dealing with lyotropic and thermotropic liquid crystals. One paper discusses lyotropic liquid crystalline phases in systems of amphiphilic compounds, including the liquid crystalline phases, lyotropic liquid crystalline phase, the ''gel'' phases, and the transition between normal and reversed mesophases. Another paper describes the ordering and structure of liquid crystals by reviewing research work on X-ray analysis of thermotropic liquid crystals. One paper explains the studies made on the mesomorphic behavior of block copolymers, including the incompatibility, segregation, and organization of polymers. The paper notes that plastic crystals and liquid crystals are different manifestations of the duality of the melting process in molecular crystals, resulting in the loss of positional and orientation order. One paper describes the essential linear defects found in solid crystals, which have been researched in terms of the major role they play in macroscopic properties, particularly plasticity, as the defects or dislocations of translation. G. Friedel's work classifies liquid crystals into an intermediary symmetry composed of the nematic, the cholesteric, and the smectic phases. This intermediary symmetry occurs between the liquid type symmetry and the solid type symmetry. This collection can prove useful for researchers in liquid crystals and industrial scientists in the field of chemistry and polymer composites.