Effects of sonication on T-CN suspension

This would be due to its large aspect ratio, which hinders the arrangement of the T-CNs. 

Various factors such as size, shape, dispersity, charge, electrolyte, and external stimuli can affect the liquid crystallinity, pitch, domain size, ordering and other properties [9]. The sample suspension was submitted to ultrasonic treatment at 800 W for 8 min. After high power sonication, we could observe a trip-like texture [Fig. 13.6a]. And tactoid could be observed in the following 24 h, which would aggregate with each other gradually [Figs. 13.6b-e]. Then the pitch characteristic of a chiral nematic phase is clearly observed and the domain size of the chiral nematic 

An interesting optical behavior was also found in the red circle of [Fig. 13.6f]. It was a transformation of the fingerprint texture and the distance between the contiguous three lines was about 200 pm. That was probably because the interface was distorted by the flow of the anisotropic phase [27], 

---