An NMR Measurement of the Diffusion Anisotropy in a Nematic Liquid Crystal

Abstract

We have measured the anisotropy of the diffusion constant for the solute molecule, tetramethylsilane, dissolved in the nematic liquid crystal, p-methoxybenzylidene-p′-n-butylaniline. We measure a diffusion constant of D = 3.2 ± 0.3 × 10⁻⁵ cm²/sec for diffusion parallel to the preferred direction