Broadband dielectric spectroscopy of confined liquid crystals

Broad band dielectric spectroscopy has been applied for investigations of the dynamic behavior of liquid crystal––4-n-octyl-4′-cyanobiphenyl in the isotropic, nematic and smectic phases confined in porous matrices with randomly oriented, interconnected pores as well as in parallel cylindrical pores. The confinement strongly influences the dynamical behavior of LC and has resulted in qualitative changes in their properties. The results on the influence of confinement on molecular relaxation due to reorientation of molecules around their short axis and librational motion are presented.