Effect of a rigid nonpolar solute on the splay, bend elastic constants, and on rotational viscosity coefficient of 4,4'-n-octyl-cyanobiphenyl.

The effect of a rigid nonpolar nonmesogenic solute "biphenyl," that is, C6H5-C6H5 on the splay and bend elastic constants and on the rotational viscosity coefficient of 4,4'-n-octyl-cyanobiphenyl is reported. The experiments involve the measurement of the voltage dependence of the capacitance of a cell filled with the mixture. Anomalous behavior of both K11 and Deltaepsilon near the N-S(A) transition have been observed.