Crystal structure of a novel dimesogen

The title compound, 4-(cholestroxycarbonyl)pentyloxy-4'-heptyloxycarbonylbiphenyl (C₅₃H₇₈O₅), is a novel dimesogen comprising two mesogenic units dissimilar in nature. It crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group P2₁2₁2₁ with cell parameters a = 6.241(3), b = 17.943(5), c = 43.13(5), Z = 4. The structure was solved using SHELXS (Sheldrick, 1997) and refined using SHELXL (Sheldrick, 1997). The final residual was R = 0.0803 for 1769 reflections with I < 2 σ(I). In the crystal phase the molecule is linear and the terminal groups show stretching with higher bond distances. The packing of the molecules shows imbrication, herringbone and stacking along the a, b, and c axes, respectively. The structure also exhibits an intermolecular hydrogen bond of the type CH…O. The space group suggests the possibility of a chiral mesophase.     

Elastic,dielectric and optical constants of the nematic mixture E49

The Merck nematic mixture E49 exhibits a large nematic interval (0–100 °C) and a large dielectric anisotropy. Both of these features make E49 interesting for applications and basic physics. Unfortunately, no systematic measurements of the material constants of this mixture and their temperature dependence have been reported in the literature. In this paper we report experimental measurements of the splay and bend elastic constants (K ₁₁ and K ₃₃) of the ordinary and the extraordinary refractive indices (n _ort and n _par) at the wavelength λ?=?632.8 nm and of the two elastic constants parallel and orthogonal to the director (ε_par and ε_ort) at the frequency ν?=?5?kHz. The temperature dependence of all of these parameters is found in the temperature range 25–99 °C. The measurements of the elastic constants are performed using both a dielectric and an optical method simultaneously on the same nematic sample. The results obtained using the two methods are in a satisfactory agreement between them within the estimated experimental uncertainty. The ordinary and the extraordinary indices are measured using the prism method.     

Rewritable Optical Storage with a Spiropyran Doped Liquid Crystal Polymer Film

Rewritable optical storage has been obtained in a spiropyran doped liquid crystal polymer films. Pictures can be recorded on films upon irradiation with UV light passing through a grayscale mask and they can be rapidly erased using visible light. Films present improved photosensitivity and optical contrast, good resistance to photofatigue, and high spatial resolution. These photochromic films work as a multifunctional, dynamic photosensitive material with a real‐time image recording feature.

     

Anchoring transitions and periodic deformations in nematic slabs

Elastic energy terms linear in the deformation tensor can appear in an ultrathin layer at the interface of a nematic liquid crystal with a substrate. These Lifchitz invariant like terms can destroy an initially uniform alignment. In particular, they can induce modulated structures. The instability towards a periodic deformation of the nematic director can occur only if the anchoring energy is lower, and the elastic constant of the Lifchitz term is larger than well-defined critical values. The present phenomenological model accounts for experimental observations where a homeotropic slab undergoes, upon cooling, a tilt transition followed by a structural transition towards a stripe texture.     

Crystal structure of 4-n-nonylbenzoic acid

The title compound, 4-n-nonylbenzoic acid, CH₃(CH₂)₈C₆H₄COOH (NBA), has been characterized thus: triclinic, P1, a = 13.514(4)Å, b = 23.4672(5)Å, c = 7.658(3)Å, alpha = 90.914(3)°, beta = 100.403(3)°, gamma = 77.781(2)°, V = 2334(2)ų, Z = 2, and F.W = 745.06, D_m = 1.161 g cm^-3, D_c = 1.061 g cm^-3, F₀₀₀ = 816.00, lambda = 0.71069Å, mu = 0.6 cm^-1, goodness-of-fit is 1.029, final R1 = 0.063 and wR2 = 0.16.     

Lyotropic Liquid Crystal Templating of Groups 11 and 12 Metal Films

Liquid crystal templating has been used to produce metal films with nanometer‐sized pores. While successful templating procedures have been reported for metals from some groups of elements (e.g., groups 9 and 10), no such reports are available for other groups. This work investigates liquid crystal templating procedures for metals from groups 11 and 12. TEM indicates that permanent mesoporous structures are obtained for templated cadmium while copper forms mesoporous structures only temporarily. Silver, gold and zinc could not be templated at all. Reasons for these observations are briefly discussed, underlining the importance of various factors influencing the templating process.     

Direct Anisotropic Growth of CdS Nanocrystals in Thermotropic Liquid Crystal Templates for Heterojunction Optoelectronics

The direct growth of CdS nanocrystals in functional solid‐state thermotropic liquid crystal (LC) small molecules and a conjugated LC polymer by in situ thermal decomposition of a single‐source cadmium xanthate precursor to fabricate LC/CdS hybrid nanocomposites is described. The influence of thermal annealing temperature of the LC/CdS precursors upon the nanomorphology, photophysics, and optoelectronic properties of the LC/CdS nanocomposites is systematically studied. Steady‐state PL and ultrafast emission dynamics studies show that the charge‐transfer rates are strongly dependent on the thermal annealing temperature. Notably, annealing at liquid‐crystal state temperature promotes a more organized nanomorphology of the LC/CdS nanocomposites with improved photophysics and optoelectronic properties. The results confirm that thermotropic LCs can be ideal candidates as organization templates for the control of organic/inorganic hybrid nanocomposites at the nanoscale level. The results also demonstrate that in situ growth of semiconducting nanocrystals in thermotropic LCs is a versatile route to hybrid organic/inorganic nanocomposites and optoelectronic devices.     

Conductive liquid crystalline compounds having a piperazine structure

New conductive thermotropic liquid crystalline materials having a piperazine ring in the central core: 1-[4-(9-decenyloxy)phenyl]-4-alkylpiperazines (6) were synthesized. The mesomorphic behaviours of these compounds and their conductivity in the liquid crystal phase were measured. The principal features of these compounds are to exhibit a smectic B phase around room temperature (for example 6: Cr 50 SmB 81 I, °C) and to exhibit a large dark current (6d: 430 μA cm^?2, applied voltage 20 V, at 70°C) in the smectic B phase.     

Thermal Conductivity and Thermal Diffusivity Anisotropy in a Liquid Crystal

Thermal conductivity (k) and thermal diffusivity (D) of the 9CB liquid crystal have been simultaneously determined by a photopyroelectric (PPE) technique in the temperature range from 308 K to 332 K where two different phase transitions occur. The measurements have been performed on oriented samples and the k and D anisotropy has been studied. The behaviour of the macroscopic order parameter vs. temperature has been determined and the order of the phase transitions checked. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

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.     

Anisotropic hydroxypropylcellulose films as alignment layers of a bistable ferroelectric device

Hydroxypropylcellulose films are used as the alignment substrate in a liquid crystal bistable electro-optical device. These alignment films were characterized by atomic force microscopy. The electro-optical behaviour of this device, which operates in the Clark-Lagerwall mode, is identical to that observed for typical SSFLC cells. In particular the bistability of the cell was clearly observed, the threshold voltage was measured and an estimation of the anchoring energy of the LC mixture used, in this type of system, was made.     

Liquid-crystalline rigid-core semiconductor oligothiophenes: influence of molecular structure on phase behaviour and thin-film properties

The design, synthesis and properties of liquid-crystalline semiconducting oligothiophenes containing dithienothiophene (DTT), benzothiadiazole (BTZ) and carbazole (CBZ) rigid cores are described. The effect of molecular structure (shape, size and substitution) on their thermal behaviour and electrical properties has been investigated. Polarised optical microscopy (POM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses have revealed highly ordered smectic mesophases for most of the newly synthesised compounds. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies performed at various temperatures have shown that the smectic order is retained in the crystalline state upon cooling across the transition temperature, affording cast films with a more favourable morphology for FET applications.     

仿生溶致液晶体系的构建与掺杂

本文综述了以类脂为基础的仿生溶致液晶体系的构建与掺杂,对掺杂物质与液晶模板之间的相互作用进行了分析,并展望了仿生溶致液晶体系在合成新型功能材料、生物学和医学等领域应用的发展前景。     

The structure of acrolein in a liquid crystal phase

The (1)H NMR spectrum of a sample of acrolein dissolved in the nematic liquid crystal phase I52 has been analysed to yield 18 dipolar couplings between all the magnetic nuclei in the molecule; moreover, the (13)C and (13)C{(1)H} NMR spectra of a sample of acrolein in CDCl(3) were recorded and analysed to determine the indirect J(ij) couplings. The data were used to obtain the relative positions of the carbon and hydrogen atoms, assuming that these are independent of the conformations generated by rotation around the C--C bond through an angle phi, and to obtain a probability distribution P(phi). It has been found that in the liquid phase, the distribution is a maximum at the trans form whereas the abundance of the cis form is significantly smaller compared with that found by microwave spectroscopy or high level quantum mechanical calculations. Such calculations produced also a suitable force field needed to develop suitable strategies for vibrational correction procedure in the case of flexible molecules.     

Hydrogen bonding interaction ofp-anisidine andN-methyl-p-anisidine withp-alkoxybenzoic acids in the bulk and in solution

The hydrogen bonding interaction ofp-anisidine andN-methyl-p-anisidine withp-alkoxybenzoic acids has been investigated in the bulk and in solution. As established by FT-IR and NMR spectroscopy, this interaction is effective in aprotic solvents, leading to the formation of hydrogen bonded complexes. In the melt, complex formation does not proceed to a significant extent, apparently due to the immiscibility of the two components, as shown by FT-IR spectroscopy and also proved by the phase diagrams obtained for these components. Thus the liquid crystalline phases that were observed originated from the dimeric acids which form a separate phase within the phases of melted anisidines.     

表面活性剂溶致液晶的流变学性质

系统阐述了三种溶致液晶(六角状、立方状和层状液晶)的流变性质,概括了各自的流变性特点并给出了其理论模型,特别对立方相的流变学模型和层状相的剪切诱导转变作用进行了较详细的说明.讨论了因为这种转变而导致的囊泡的形成,并且在表面活性剂和嵌段共聚物中均可观察到剪切诱导的结构转变.