@article{39720, abstract = {{ 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 ° C for the nematic and 3.5 ° 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 ° C below the isotropic–nematic phase transition on cooling. }}, author = {{Mirzaei, Javad and Urbanski, Martin and Kitzerow, Heinz-Siegfried and Hegmann, Torsten}}, issn = {{1364-503X}}, journal = {{Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences}}, keywords = {{General Physics and Astronomy, General Engineering, General Mathematics}}, number = {{1988}}, publisher = {{The Royal Society}}, title = {{{Hydrophobic gold nanoparticles via silane conjugation: chemically and thermally robust nanoparticles as dopants for nematic liquid crystals}}}, doi = {{10.1098/rsta.2012.0256}}, volume = {{371}}, year = {{2013}}, }