Surfactant Modulated Phase Transitions of Liquid Crystals Confined in Electrospun Coaxial Fibers

Confinement of liquid crystals (LCs) in polymeric fibers offers a promising strategy to control liquid crystal response to external stimuli. Here, the confinement of 4-cyano-4′-pentylbiphenyl (5CB), a nematic liquid crystal, within the core of coaxially electrospun fibers composed of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) containing different surfactants is discussed. The effects of surfactant type, surfactant concentration, and core flow rate...