Thermal and optical study of the kinetics of the nematic-isotropic transition in octylcyanobiphenyl

It is shown in this paper that the kinetics of the nematic-isotropic (NI) transition in 30-mum-thick octylcyanobiphenyl liquid crystal films is strongly affected by the cell walls. We have found that this is due to the modification of the wetting properties of the liquid crystal depending on the surface treatment. The results have been obtained with an experimental setup which allows the simultaneous high resolution study of the sample thermal properties and texture evolution with temperature. An accurate determination of the width of the two phase coexistence region associated with the NI transition has been possible and it is shown that it is affected by the presence of a surfactant. The results have been interpreted with a simple model which is based on the possible presence of a well-defined interface between the nematic and the isotropic phases in the coexistence region, which depends not only on the thermal gradients in the sample but also on the surface treatments.