Ag. Vanakaras et Dj. Photinos, THEORY OF BIAXIAL NEMATIC ORDERING IN ROD-DISC MIXTURES REVISITED, Molecular crystals and liquid crystals science and technology. Section A, Molecular crystals and liquid crystals, 299, 1997, pp. 65-71
We use the variational cluster approximation to study the relative the
rmodynamic stability of the spatially uniform phases of binary mixture
s of hard rods and discs. The factors promoting the stability of the b
iaxial nematic phase are identified and discussed. The results suggest
that a stable thermotropic nematic biaxial mixture cannot be obtained
from molecules of the sizes and electric dipole interaction strengths
commonly encountered in real calamitic and discotic thermotropic phas
es.