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Dynamics of the surface layer in cyanobiphenyl–aerosil nanocomposites with a high silica density

Composites were prepared from an aerosil and 4-n-alkyl-4′cyanobiphenyls with five to eight carbon atoms in the alkyl chain. Their high silica density of ∼7 g aerosil in 1 cm3 of liquid crystal (LC) allows the observation of the behaviour of a thin cyanobiphenyl layer (having nearly a monolayer structure) on the silica particles. The systems are investigated by dielectric spectroscopy (10−2–109 Hz) in a large temperature range (220–370 K). All the composites show a (main) relaxation process at frequencies much lower than the processes observed for the bulk LC that was assigned to the dynamics of the molecules in the surface layer. The temperature dependence of its characteristic frequencies obeys the Vogel–Fulcher–Tammann law, which is found to be typical for glass-forming liquids. The quasi two-dimensional character of the glass transition in the surface layer is discussed for the first time. At the nematic-to-isotropic transition temperature of the bulk, the composites show a continuous decrease of the characteristic frequencies as a function of the alkyl chain length, while the bulk LCs show the well known odd–even behaviour. The magnitude and temperature dependence of the slow relaxation process in the composites (molecules on an outer surface) agree with those of the same molecules confined to the nanopores of molecular sieves (internal surface).