Molecular orientation of nematic microdroplets in polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) films has been investigated by time-resolved FT-IR (TR/FT-IR) in the presence of an applied electric field. Two kinds (fast and slow) of reorientation processes are found, and these may be attributed to reorientation of liquid crystal molecules at the surface and the central region of droplets. In addition, an induction time has been observed before the onset of the actual reorientation. It is suggested that there are no essential differences between rigid and flexible molecular segments with respect to reorientation dynamics of at least 1 ms time resolution. TR and micro-FT-IR techniques have been combined in order to study the reorientation dynamics of the different regions of droplets.

The NMR peak of 59Co(III) cationic complexes shifts upfield upon interacting with anions when the interaction is mainly electrostatic; it shifts downfield when the hydrophobic interaction acts additively with the electrostatic interaction. These trends are enhanced in micellar solution systems.

59Co NMR spectroscopy was used to study the interactions of cationic or neutral octahedral cobalt(III) complexes such as [Co(NH3)6]3+, [Co(en)3]3+ (en = ethylenediamine), [Co(NO2)(NH3)5]2+, and [Co(acac)3] (acac = acetylacetonato) with surfactants in their nematic liquid crystalline solutions. The specific interactions of the complexes with the surfactants were studied in a replacement of one surfactant by another that had a different polar group. The extent of the binding of these complexes was monitored through the 59Co quadrupole splittings. The relationship between the extent of the binding and the magnitude of the quadrupole splitting did not hold when comparing the three cationic complexes. A comparison between the potassium dodecanoate (KDodec)/tetradecyl (or decyl)trimethylammonium bromide (TDTMABr or DTMABr) and the cesium N-dodecanoyl-L-alaninate (CsDDA)/tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (TDTMABr) mixed surfactant systems in the interaction with [Co(NH3)6]3+ and [Co(en)3]3+ complexes showed that these complexes bind to the alaninate polar group through a weakly interacting site in the range of the intermediate composition of the mixed surfactants; such a kind of the binding was negligible or smaller in the dodecanoate system. [Co(acac)3] complex was solubilized to liquid crystals and the interactions with the surfactant depended on their polar groups in spite of the electric neutrality of the complex.

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