Optics of sheared liquid-crystal polarizer based on aqueous dispersion of dichroic-dye nano-aggregates

— The initial results on the optical properties of lyotropic liquid crystals under shear and following the cessation of flow are presented in the paper. Disk-shaped aromatic molecules that self-assemble into columnar nano-stacks in the water form the supramolecule — the basic structural element of these liquid crystals. The nature of the flow is an important factor determining the material microstructure, providing a global order and initial conditions for the drying process. The dried coating exhibits the properties of an E-type broadband polarizer. Understanding the dynamics of texture evolution and its interaction with the flow is of crucial importance to any development of polarizers coated with the liquid crystals.