Resumo

QUINTANA, Jacqueline. La transición nemático-isotrópico bajo confinamiento. Rev. Soc. Quím. Méx [online]. 2000, vol.44, n.1, pp.82-86. ISSN 0583-7693.

The traditional thermodynamical studies of phase transitions are performed on macroscopic samples. The interest on phase transitions that occur in finite-sized systems (confined systeins) begins in the XIX century when Lord Kelvin studied the phenomenon of capillary condensation. However, it is only recently that this topic has become important from both the basic and the applied points of view. In this paper we describe briefly the modification of the phiase diagram. of a microscopic system due to confinenment imposed by two parallel surfaces. We also discuss the effect that the surface interactions have on the phase transition, in particular we analyze the case of the isotropic-nematic transition.

Palavras-chave : Liquid crystals; nematic; confined fluids.