  Percolation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in liquid crystals (LCs) opens way for
a unique class of anisotropic hybrid materials with a complex dielectric
constant widely controlled by CNT concentration. Percolation in such systems is
commonly described as a one-step process starting at a very low loading of
CNTs. In the present study the two-step percolation was observed in the samples
of thickness 250 $\mu$m obtained by pressing the suspension between two
substrates. The percolation concentrations for the first and second percolation
processes were $C_n^{p_1}\approx 0.0002$ wt. \% and $C_n^{p_2}\approx 0.5$ wt.
\%, respectively. The two-stage nature of percolation was explained on a base
of mean field theory assuming core-shell structure of CNTs.
