Rotational viscosity of ferroelectric liquid-crystalline polysiloxanes

Some physical parameters of comb-shaped ferroelectric liquid-crystalline polymers were measured. Their rotational viscosities are two or three orders of magnitude larger than that of low molecular weight ferroelectric liquid crystals. Furthermore, they are found generally to be proportional to the second power of the weight-average molecular weight. Spontaneous polarization of the ferroelectric liquid-crystalline polymers has little dependence on molecular weight.     

Ferroelectric liquid crystal composites based on the porous stretched polyethylene films

Electro-optically active polymer–liquid crystal composites based on ferroelectric liquid crystals and stretched porous polyethylene films were developed. The alignment of ferroelectric liquid crystals incorporated into the porous polyethylene films with average porous diameter of around 200 nm was observed and studied. It was shown experimentally that these samples containing ferroelectric liquid crystals are flexible electro-optical films exhibiting a saturation electric field near 2·10⁷ Vm^?1 and a response time of about 30 μs under the action of the saturation field. A simple theoretical model of ferroelectric liquid crystal molecules' complete reorientation in electric fields inside pores of the films has been proposed and confirmed experimentally.     

Rotational viscosity of ferroelectric liquid-crystalline polysiloxanes

Abstract

Some physical parameters of comb-shaped ferroelectric liquid-crystalline polymers were measured. Their rotational viscosities are two or three orders of magnitude larger than that of low molecular weight ferroelectric liquid crystals. Furthermore, they are found generally to be proportional to the second power of the weight-average molecular weight. Spontaneous polarization of the ferroelectric liquid-crystalline polymers has little dependence on molecular weight.     

手性席夫碱型液晶化合物的合成与表征

手性席夫碱型液晶化合物的合成与表征田颜清，林凤，赵英英，汤心颐，苏峰煜，赵晓光，周恩乐（吉林大学化学系长春１３００２３）（中国科学院长春应用化学研究所长春）关键词近晶相液晶，手性液晶，席夫碱，合成，表征自从１９７５年Ｍｅｙｅｒ等［１］首次合成铁电液晶...     

Orthoconic liquid crystals — A case study

Since the early investigations on liquid crystals it was realized how the confining surfaces often determine the textures and even properties of the material. This influence is particularly complex and important for chiral materials. When we come to chiral smectics the surfaces may have dramatic effects. These are illustrated on the ferroelectric liquid crystals; they then again increase in importance for the antiferroelectric liquid crystals where the most recent example is given by the orthoconic liquid crystals.     

Synthesis and characterization of halogen-containing ferroelectric liquid crystals and side chain liquid crystalline polymers

A new series of ferroelectric liquid crystals and side chain liquid crystalline polymers based on halogen-containing chiral centres has been synthesized. Chemical structures were analysed by NMR. Liquid crystal phases were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, optical polarizing microscopy, and X-ray diffractometry. The behaviour of the liquid crystalline phases was investigated as a function of spacer units and differing terminal asymmetric moieties. It was found that phase transition temperatures decreased with increasing length of the oligooxyethylene spacer unit. Differing terminal asymmetric moieties led to differing mesophase phenomena. Furthermore, a wide temperature range (including room temperature) of a chiral smectic C phase was achieved.     

含氟液晶研究进展

本文简述了含氟液晶的研究进展。根据小分子含氟液晶中氟原子或含氟基团的位置不同,将其分为3类：末端是氟原子或含氟基团的液晶、苯环上氢原子被氟原子取代的液晶、中心桥键上的氢原子被氟原子取代的液晶。根据小分子含氟液晶特点,归纳了氟原子或含氟基团对液晶分子物理性质的影响。同时对高分子含氟液晶的研究进展也做了介绍。     

Aliphatic polyimides as alignment layers for surface stabilized ferroelectric smectic C liquid crystal cells

Eight aliphatic polyimides have been synthesized and tested as alignment layers for surface stabilized ferroelectic liquid crystals with a number of room temperature ferroelectric mixtures. The cone angles are used as a quantitative measure of the bistability obtained in these cells. The effect of the structure of the polyimides on the cone angles obtained is discussed. It is shown that the structure of the polymer alignment layer strongly influences the cone angle found between the relaxed states in a surface stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal cell. Highly crystalline polymers give a larger cone angle than less crystalline homologues.     

旋光性聚合物的铁电性能

旋光性高分子在结构上具有一定的空间特异性,因而可以有多种应用。根据铁电材料所必需具备的条件,经过特定的分子结构设计,可以使之具备铁电性能,据此,人们已合成了许多不同类型的铁电聚合物。本文按照铁电聚合物所处的聚集态不同,分别综述了具有铁电特性的晶态和液晶态旋光性聚合物的种类、结构特点及其铁电性能,分析讨论了影响液晶态旋光性聚合物的自发极化率和响应时间的因素。     

液晶性树状高分子

对树状高分子进行功能化,使之成为具有特定性能的新型材料是目前很热门的课题,树状液晶就是其中之一.树状高分子长径比很小,似乎难以形成液晶态,但人们已发现多种树状液晶分子,几乎囊括了所有在其他高分子中出现过的液晶相.本文按液晶相分类,介绍树状液晶高分子的研究进展.     

Electromechanical effect in an antiferroelectric liquid crystal

Abstract

The electromechanical properties of a compound exhibiting an antiferroelectric phase were investigated. An electric field induced antiferroelectric-ferroelectric transition could be detected by vibration analysis. In the antiferroelectric state the vibrations almost vanish while in the ferroelectric state the electromechanical effect has the same magnitude as in the chiral smectic C* phase.     

Photorefractive effect in composites of ferroelectric liquid crystal and photoconductive polymer

The photorefractive effect in composites of a ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) and several photoconductive polymers was investigated. The photorefractivity of mixtures of photoconductive polymers and an FLC (polymer/FLC), as well as that of photoconductive-polymer-stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystals (PPS-FLCs) was examined. The polymer/FLC samples exhibited two-beam coupling gain coefficients of about 6∼12 cm^-1 in a 5 µm gap cell. The photopolymerization of a methacrylate monomer in the FLC medium established a polymer-stabilized state in which the alignment of FLC molecules was mechanically stabilized. The noise in a two-beam coupling signal was reduced significantly in the PPS-FLC samples.     

A pyroelectric liquid crystal polymer (PLCP) for second-harmonic generation

In order for a material to show a non-vanishing second order non-linear susceptibility, the material has to have a polar axis. This is hard to achieve in a liquid crystal system because of the strong quadrupolar order along the director. Electrostatic poling of polymers and polymer liquid crystals at high temperature and subsequent quenching to lower temperature only gives a small value of the polar order parameter and, in addition, results in materials which are not in thermodynamic equilibrium and therefore not stable over long times. Starting with a ferroelectric liquid crystal (which has polar order perpendicular to the director) we have succeeded in making a material with true polar order. It is not ferroelectric, although the ferroelectric properties of the starting and intermediate materials are basic for the procedure and for the final product which can be used for frequency doubling, of importance, for instance, in a wide area of optic communication applications.     

Ferroelectric compounds with chiral (S)-1-methylheptyloxycarbonyl terminal chain – their miscibility and a helical pitch

Compounds with the same chiral terminal chain but different structure of rigid core and non-chiral terminal chain were added to basic highly tilted ferroelectric compound in the aim of establishing whether the miscibility of phases, especially ferroelectric phase, exists in these compounds and what are the helical pitch and tilt angle temperature dependence in bicomponent systems. In certain systems, we obtained a mixture with very short helical pitch at broad temperature range of ferroelectric phase, which open opportunities for the formulation of multicomponent mixtures for fast switching ferroelectric liquid crystals modes.     

Switchable columnar metallomesogens

Chiral columnar liquid crystals have recently appeared as a promising new type of ferroelectric materials. To date, all the columnar liquid crystals that have been reported to show ferroelectric switching consist of organic compounds. However, metal-containing liquid crystals open this field to a significant number of new structures and offer the possibility of adding to the ferroelectric behavior other properties inherent to the presence of metals in the structure, such as magnetism, as well as the use of new methods of characterization (EPR, synchrotron radiation, etc.). The potential of columnar metal-containing liquid crystals as ferroelectric materials has been demonstrated even though only a few organic columnar ferroelectric liquid crystals have been described. As a first approach to this type of material, this concepts article describes the results obtained with chiral metal beta-diketonates that show ferroelectric switching in the columnar mesophase. It has been shown that these materials have a helical columnar arrangement in the mesomorphic state, and a chiral superstructure has been proposed from circular dichroism studies. This type of supramolecular structure plays a fundamental role in the ferroelectric properties of these compounds. The discussion is mainly focused on the strategy employed for the molecular design, and on the interpretation of the mesophase structure and the electrooptic effect. The use of a diverse range of techniques, both those commonly used in the field of liquid crystals and those that are more specific will be highlighted, and the principles of these specific techniques are summarized together with a justification of their applicability to this study.     

Enhancing the electro-optical properties of ferroelectric liquid crystals by doping ferroelectric nanoparticles

The effects on the physical and electro-optical properties of ferroelectric liquid crystals (FLCs) after the doping of a dilute suspension of ferroelectric nanoparticles (BaTiO₃) have been studied. Due to the permanent electric dipole moments of the ferroelectric nanoparticles, the spontaneous polarisation of FLCs with low doping concentration was about twice that of pure FLCs, in addition to a significant improvement in the dielectric properties, the response time and the V-shaped switching in the chiral smectic C (SmC?) phase. The results obtained point the way to an alternative for improving the applicability of FLCs without resorting to chemical synthesis.     

Liquid Crystalline Properties of Side-chain Polymers Bearing the Same Mesogenic Group

The synthesis and properties of a series of new ferroelectric liquid crystal side-chain polymers with the same mesogenic side group but different polymer backbones (polyacrylate, polymethacrylate and polysiloxanes) are described. The polymorphism is studied by optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction. All the monomers exhibit at least an S_A and a ferroelectric S*_C phase, as the polymethacrylate and the copolysiloxane. These two polymers and the polyacrylate exhibit also an S*_F phase. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

DESIGN AND STUDY OF NEW AZOBENZENE LIQUID CRYSTAL/POLYMER MATERIALS

Discussion is presented on the use of the photoisomerization of azobenzene chromophore in the design andpreparation of novel functional materials. The two systems reviewed are azobenzene polymer-stabilized liquid crystals andazobenzene elastomers. In the first case, a polymer network containing azobenzene moieties is used to optically induce andstabilize a long-range liquid crystal orientation without the need of treating the surfaces of the substrates. This optical andrubbing-free approach was applied to nematic and ferroelectric liquid crystals. In the second case, an azobenzene side-chainliquid crystalline polymer is grafted onto a styrene-butadiene-styrene triblock copolymer to yield a photoactive thermoplasticelastomer. Coupled mechanical and optical effects make possible the formation of dimaction gratings that may be useful formechanically tunable optical devices.     

Dielectric properties near the isotropic-smectic-C* phase transition

The dielectric properties in the vicinity of the isotropic-smectic-C* phase transition in ferroelectric liquid crystals are discussed. The temperature and frequency dependence of the complex dielectric permittivity in both the phases of the transition are calculated. The theoretical phase diagram of the dielectric permittivity is studied.     

Electrical and Optical Studies of Hydrogen Bonded Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals Dispersed with MWCNT

Two hydrogen bonded ferroelectric liquid crystals (HBFLC) are dispersed with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) for achieving better thermal and electrical performance. Interesting feature of the present communication is the enhancement in the enthalpy value pertaining to isotropic-nematic transition in MWCNT doped liquid crystals compare to its pure counter parts. Dielectric relaxations studies are carried out in the pure and the MWCNT doped systems. It is observed that doping of MWCNT elevated the activation energies considerably. Optical shuttering action in one of the complex dispersed with MWCNT are discussed.