Influence of fullerenes C60 and single-walled carbon nanotubes on the Carr – Helfrich effect in nematic liquid crystal

Abstract Influence of fullerenes C60 and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with concentration of 0.5 wt.% on the Carr-Helfrich electrohydrodynamic instability in nematic liquid crystal 4-methoxybenzylidene-4'-butylaniline (MBBA) is investigated. It is shown that the inclusion of these dopants into liquid crystal leads to decreasing of the threshold voltage of Williams domains formation. Critical frequency of disappearance of the EHDI decreases for the MBBA + fullerenes colloid and it increases for the MBBA + SWCNTs colloid with respect to the pure LC. A decrease of time characteristics in the MBBA + fullerenes colloid and their increase in the MBBA + SWCNTs colloid compared with the pure MBBA are observed. The experimental results are explained on the base of the Carr-Helfrich theory for electrohydrodynamic instability in nematic liquid crystal.