  Liquid crystalline (LC) mixtures of cholesteryl oleyl carbonate (COC) and
4-pentyl-4'-cyanobiphenyl (5CB), as well as dispersions of single-walled carbon
nanotubes (NTs) in these mixtures, were studied by means of selective
reflection measurements, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and optical
microscopy. The relative mass of COC in a mixture X was varied between 0.4 and
1.0, the temperature range of measurements was between 284 K and 314 K, and
concentration of NTs was fixed at 0.1 %. Two important anomalies were noted:
(1) the cholesteric to smectic-A transition temperature increased on dilution
of COC by non-smectogenic 5CB in the concentration range 0.8<X<1, and (2) the
reciprocal pitch vs. 5CB concentration dependence was essentially linear, in
contrast to behaviour commonly observed in nematic-cholesteric mixtures. A
model of molecular arrangement in the mixtures, accounting for the possibility
of integration of 5CB dimers and monomers between COC molecules and presumably
explaining the experimental data, was proposed. The helical pitch of the
cholesteric mixtures remained practically unchanged upon doping by NTs, and
only slight widening of the selective reflection peaks was noted. The obtained
results allow considering the COC+5CB mixtures as promising matrices for
composite materials on the basis of liquid crystals and carbon nanotubes.
