Enhancement of the properties and mesophases stability after the electron beam irradiation on a racemic anti-ferroelectric liquid crystalline mixture

The display parameters and the stability of the various mesophases of a newly synthesised racemic mixture of anti-ferroelectric liquid crystals (AFLCs) have been boosted with the help of the electron beam irradiation. The mixture has phase sequence of isotropic–smectic C–smectic C_A crystal. The effective macroscopic polarisation and transition temperatures of the various mesophases of the irradiated mixture have increased as compared with the pure mixture. The macroscopic polarisation of the mixture has increased from 21 to 27 nC/cm² due to the irradiation. From various studies, we have observed that the temperature range of the smectic C_A phase has increased by 20.6°C with marginal decrease in the temperature range of the smectic C phase.     

A single parameter determines mesophase transitions in Swollen Liquid Crystals

We report how the control of a single parameter, the co-surfactant, determines the phase transitions of oil-in-water swollen liquid crystals (SLCs) prepared with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), from cubic to hexagonal, lamellar, and finally sponge-like structures. SLCs are complex mixtures (surfactant + co-surfactant + water + salt + oil) usually prepared to form hexagonal mesophases, with cell parameters tunable between 3 and 30 nm. These hexagonal mesophases were successfully used as nanoreactors to prepare a broad range of nanostructured materials. Because the potential of these mesophases as adaptive nanoreactors has not been extended to other liquid crystal geometries than the hexagonal, we studied in a first step the structure evolution of SLCs made with CTAB, cyclohexane, pentanol-1, water and different stabilising salts. We used small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), polarised light microscopy and Freeze-Fracture TEM to provide a partial phase diagram and list the different mesophases obtained as a function of composition. We report that the adjustment of a single parameter, the co-surfactant (pentanol-1), determines the phase transition between cubic, hexagonal, lamellar, and sponge-like structures, all other parameters such as the nature and concentration of salt, or amount of oil being constant.     

Light-induced LC director freezing on a chalcogenide surface

First observations of permanent light-induced director patterning in a transparent liquid crystal (LC) are reported. The patterning was observed in an LC cell with one of the substrates covered with a chalcogenide film. Concentric director ring pattern appears following the irradiation of the chalcogenide surface through the LC layer by a Gaussian beam. The experimental results are explained in terms of the heat transfer from the chalcogenide film to the LC after the light absorption by the chalcogenide film. Heating the LC changes its birefringence according to the spatial intensity distribution of the Gaussian beam. This in turn leads to the spatially oscillating changes of the polarisation state of light in the plane of the chalcogenide film. The oscillating changes of the light polarisation result in producing the light-induced easy orientation axis and the oscillating changes of the anchoring energy. It causes the spatial modulation of the director on the chalcogenide surface and the formation of the concentric ring twist structures in the cell.     

Phase modulation using different orientations of a chiral nematic in liquid crystal over silicon devices

Modulation of the intensity of light by high quality reflective micro-displays is predominantly carried out by liquid crystal over silicon (LCoS) spatial light modulator (SLM) technology for applications such as pico-projectors. Wider use of these devices, in applications such as computer-generated holography and optical correlation, is limited by their phase modulation ability and illumination polarisation state dependence. These devices rely on planar or twisted nematic liquid crystals to modulate the light, but due to their viscoelastic properties they are inherently slow. Research into the use of the polymer stabilised blue phase has already shown that it can offer high speed phase modulation. However, other chiral nematic orientations are yet to be compared in LCoS devices. In this article, we demonstrate that polymer-stabilised chiral nematic liquid crystal electro-optical effects can offer phase modulation in silicon backplane devices. The uniform standing helix and focal conic textures are shown to be independent of the input light polarisation state and the uniform lying helix is shown to be polarisation dependent. These optical responses are then compared with that of the blue phase to identify a suitable orientation for further development in LCoS technology in order to find a high-speed, full phase modulating material.     

Morphologies and mechanical properties of <Emphasis Type="Italic">cis</Emphasis>-1,4-butadiene rubber/polyethylene blends

The mechanical properties and phase morphologies of cis-1,4-butadiene rubber (BR) blended with polyethylene (PE) at different blend ratios were studied. The tensile test results show that the PE exhibits excellent reinforcing capabilities towards BR. Blending BR with PE results in a remarkable enhancement of tensile strength, modulus and the elongation at break simultaneously. An increment of tensile strength from 1.11 MPa to 16.26 MPa was achieved by incorporation of 40 wt% PE in the blends. The modulus and elongation at break of 40/60 PE/BR blends are also about 5 times higher than those of the pure BR treated under exactly the same conditions. The tear test indicates that the tear strength also increases with the increase of PE content. It reaches 58.38 MPa for the 40/60 PE/BR blend, which is approximately 10 times higher than that of the pure BR. Morphological study demonstrates that the PE forms elongated microdomains finely dispersed in the BR matrix when its content is over 30 wt%, which corresponds to the remarkably enhanced mechanical properties. According to the results, reinforcement mechanism of PE toward BR dependent on the microstructure has been discussed and two different mechanisms have been proposed.     

Liquid crystal phases in confined geometries

ABSTRACT

The orientation control of liquid crystal (LC) phases is essential for fundamental studies as well as practical applications. Surface treatment and topographic confinement have emerged as two of the most effective tools to control ordering and orientation of various types of LC phases. This review is intended to give an overview of the LC phases controlled in confined geometries at micro- and nanometre scales, in which the orientation control methods and the effective analytical techniques will be covered. Finally, the review closes with the applications using such confined LC phases.     

Enlarging the Kerr constant of polymer-stabilised blue phases with a novel chiral monomer

Polymer-stabilised blue phase liquid crystals (PS-BPLC) have attracted many attentions in the area of display and photonic applications because of the superior electro-optical properties. Before application, the problem of high driving voltage should be resolved first. In this report, a new chiral monomer (C5011) has been synthesised and its influence on PS-BPLC was investigated. By adopting this chiral monomer, the Kerr constant of the PS-BPLC could be increased dramatically, which means improved driving capacity can be achieved.     

New mesogenic compounds possessing a biphenyl ester and ether moiety comprising 1,3-dimethylbarbituric acid: synthesis,characterisation and mesomorphic studies

New substituted derivatives of 5-vinyl-1,3-dimethylbarbituric acid were synthesised and evaluated for liquid crystal properties. Two sets of molecules were prepared. One end of all the molecules possesses the 1,3-dimethylbarbituric core. The first set comprises biphenyl ethers, 4a–n and the second set biphenyl esters, 5a–g. Liquid crystalline properties were investigated by POM and DSC techniques. All the compounds exhibited enantiotropic smectic A and nematic mesophases. The LC properties were found to depend on the spacer and terminal alkoxy- chain and alkoxy- ester moiety of the molecules. Smaller alkyl chain members showed a smectic phase, while higher alkyl chain members showed a nematic phase.     

Photo-responsive liquid crystalline elastomer with reduced chemically modified graphene oxide

Photo-responsive liquid crystalline elastomer (LCE) with reduced chemically modified graphene oxide (RMGO) was fabricated and studied. Mesogenic groups modified graphene oxide (MGO) was prepared, reduced and characterised, then the obtained RMGO was mixed with an acrylate monomer containing a side-on mesogen, a crosslinker and a photoinitiator. After being oriented with magnetic field, well-defined LCE micropillar as photo-responsive actuators were fabricated from the mixture by the method combining soft lithography and photo-polymerisation/photo-crosslinking. The LCE micropillars showed reversible thermo-mechanical deformation during the nematic-to-isotropic transition temperature. Upon irradiating with red light (650 nm), photo-mechanical responses of the RMGO-containing LCE was demonstrated. This micron-sized LCE actuators can be used for remote photo-responsive devices.     

杂环化聚丙烯亚胺树状聚合物负载钌铑双金属纳米粒子的制备及在催化丁腈橡胶氢化中的应用

以十五元三烯氮杂大环改性的不同代数聚丙烯亚胺树状聚合物(Gn-M,n=2,3,4)为模板,通过共络合-还原方法制备了一系列钌/铑双金属纳米粒子[Gn-M(RuxRh100-x)DTNs,x为Ru摩尔分数],并将其应用于丁腈橡胶(NMR)的催化氢化.用紫外-可见光谱(UV-Vis)、X射线衍射分析(XRD)及X射线能谱(EDS)表征DTNs的金属组成和结构,结果表明,DTNs上的双金属离子被还原成金属单质并负载于Gn-M上;粒度分析结果表明,G2-M(Ru50Rh50),G3-M(Ru50Rh50)和G4-M(Ru50Rh50)DTNs的平均粒径分别为7.5,8.1和4.5 nm.凝胶测试及核磁共振波谱(1H NMR)结果表明,Ru/Rh DTNs催化剂对丁腈橡胶的催化氢化反应具有良好的选择性.当以G4-M(Ru30Rh70)DTNs为催化剂时,NBR的氢化度最高可达99.51%,循环使用2次后,丁腈橡胶的氢化度仍可达到90.58%.