Formation and kinetics of transient metastable states in mixtures under coupled phase ordering and chemical demixing

Abstract

We present theory and simulation of simultaneous chemical demixing and phase ordering in a polymer–liquid-crystal mixture in conditions where isotropic-isotropic phase separation is metastable with respect to isotropic-nematic phase transition. It is found that mesophase formation proceeds by a transient metastable phase that surround the ordered phase, and whose lifetime is a function of the ratio of diffusional-to-orientational mobilities. It is shown that kinetic phase ordering in polymer-mesogen mixtures is analogous to kinetic crystallization in polymer solutions