Publication details for Professor Michael Petty

Massey, M. K., Volpati, D., Qaiser, F., Kotsialos, A., Pearson, C., Zeze, D. A. & Petty, M. C. (2015), Alignment of liquid crystal/carbon nanotube dispersions for application in unconventional computing, 1648: International Conference on Numercal Analysis and Applied Mathematics. Rhodes, Greece, American Institute of Physics, Rhodes, 280009.

• Publication type: Conference Paper
• ISSN/ISBN: 0094-243X (print)
• DOI: 10.1063/1.4912538
• Keywords: Liquid crystal alignment, Carbon nanotubes, Unconventional computing.
• Further publication details on publisher web site
• Durham Research Online (DRO) - may include full text

Author(s) from Durham

• Professor Michael Petty

Abstract

We demonstrate the manipulation of single-walled carbon nanotube/liquid crystal composites using in-plane electric fields. The conductivity of the materials is shown to be dependant on the application of a DC bias across the electrodes. When the materials are subjected to this in-plane field, it is suggested that the liquid crystals orientate, thereby forcing the SWCNTs to follow in alignment. This process occurs over many seconds, since the SWCNTs are significantly larger in size than the liquid crystals. The opportunity for applying this material to unconventional computing problems is suggested.