The Impact of Nanoparticles on Previtreous Behavior: Glass-Forming Nematogenic E7 Mixture-Based Nanocolloids

This report discusses the impact of nanoparticles on glass-forming systems composed of a liquid crystalline (LC) mixture E7 and paraelectric BaTiO3 particles (𝑑≈50 nm, globular), tested via broadband dielectric spectroscopy. In the isotropic phase, critical changes in the dielectric constant are shown. They are related to the weakly discontinuous nature of the isotropic–nematic transition. In the nematic phase, two primary relaxation times/processes and DC electric conductivity are considered, down to the glass temperature 𝑇𝑔. The prevalence of portrayals via the ‘double exponential’ MYEGA equation and the critical & activated Drozd-Rzoska relation for dynamic properties are shown. For the primary loss curve, critical-like changes of its maximum (peak) are evidenced: 𝜀″𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘∝1/(𝑇−𝑇∗𝑔) for 𝑇𝑔