Image analysis technique to compute pitch of cholesteric liquid crystals

A computational method of image analysis is proposed to determine the pitch of cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs): cholesteryl n-valerate and cholesteryl decanoate. In this method, textures of liquid crystals are converted into HSI (Hue, Saturation, Intensity) format, as the HUE image contains the wavelength data needed to compute the pitch of CLCs. Here, the optical technique called selective reflection method is adopted. Computational analysis of liquid crystal textures is carried out on the MATLAB platform. Obtained results demonstrate that pitch values of cholesteryl liquid crystals decrease with increasing temperature. Further, the pitch values are compared with values available in literature.