Hydrophobic gold nanoparticles via silane conjugation: chemically and thermally robust nanoparticles as dopants for nematic liquid crystals

<jats:p> We examine for the first time how chemically and thermally stable gold nanoparticles (NPs), prepared by a silane conjugation approach, affect both the thermal and the electro-optical properties of a nematic liquid crystal (LC), when doped at concentrations ranging from 0.25 to 7.5 wt%. We find that the octadecylsilane-conjugated gold NPs stabilize both the enantiotropic nematic and the monotropic smectic-A phases of the LC host with a maximum stabilization of 2 <jats:sup>°</jats:sup> C for the nematic and 3.5 <jats:sup>°</jats:sup> C for the smectic-A phases for the mixture containing 1 wt% of the silanized particles. The same mixture shows the lowest values for the Fréedericksz transition threshold voltage and the highest value for the dielectric anisotropy. Generally, all NP-containing mixtures, except mixtures with NP concentrations exceeding 5 wt%, reduce the threshold voltage, increase the dielectric anisotropy and reduce both rise and decay time; the latter particularly at temperatures at least 10 <jats:sup>°</jats:sup> C below the isotropic–nematic phase transition on cooling. </jats:p>