LC diketones: synthesis,transformations and mesomorphic properties

The synthesis and chemical transformations of various diketones into liquid crystalline compounds are discussed. The diketones were prepared by the interaction of cyclohexene with acid chlorides and benzene in the presence of aluminium chloride (Nenitzescu method) or by Friedel Crafts reaction of trans-4-alkanoyl-1-phenylcyclohexanes or trans-2-alkyl-5-phenylcyclohexanones with acid chlorides, or by the condensation of corresponding Mannich salts with 2-substituted acetoacetates or acetylacetone.     

New liquid crystalline cyclohexene and cyclohexane derivatives and compositions based upon them

The synthesis and chemical transformations of 3,6-disubstituted cyclohex-2-enones into new liquid crystalline cyclohexene and cyclohexane derivatives are discussed. 3,6-Disubstituted cyclohex-2-enones have been synthesized by the condensation of appropriate 2-bromoethyl ketones or Mannich salts with 2-[2-(trans -4-alkylcyclohexyl)ethyl]acetoacetic or 2-[2-(4-substituted phenyl)ethyl]acetoacetic esters.     

Effect of ferroelectric liquid crystalline quaterphenyl structure and handedness on helical pitch length in bicomponent mixtures

The aim of this paper is characterisation of mesomorphic properties and helical structure parameters: handedness and helical pitch, of two laterally substituted ferroelectric compounds and mixtures based on them. These compounds have the same quaterphenyl rigid core and the same length of non-chiral chain – eight carbon atoms, as well as the absolute configuration of chiral centre (‘R’). Base compounds differ in the kind of a substituent in a rigid core (–Cl, –CH₃). Both of them have rather low melting temperature in comparison to most of quaterphenyls, and it affects the lowering of this temperature in binary mixtures. Thus they can be used for preparation of multicomponent ferroelectric mixtures useful for application.     

Fast-switching effect using viscous chiral-nematic materials

We report on chiral-nematic mixtures containing viscous chiral dopants, composed of rigid rod-like chiral molecules, in order to solve the problem of backflow in the middle layers of the liquid crystal cells. During the study, the viscoelastic properties of the liquid crystal compositions have been optimised, as well as the helical twisting power of the chiral compounds, the anchoring energy and the pre-tilt angle of alignment materials, the ratio between the cell gap and the helical pitch (d/P₀). After optimisation, we prepared test cells with low operating voltage – from 1.5 till 5.0 V, fast response time (τ_on + τ_off) – less than 1 ms, wide operating temperature range from ?40°C till +100°C, and good thermal stability. It should be noted that the response time of the new electro-optical mode does not strongly depend on the cell gap, which is in contrast to other known operating modes. We have achieved rather linear than quadratic dependence of the response time when changing the thickness of the cell.     

Structure-transport analysis for particulate packings in trapezoidal microchip separation channels

This article investigates the efficiency of particulate beds confined in quadrilateral microchannels by analyzing the three-dimensional fluid flow velocity field and accompanying hydrodynamic dispersion with quantitative numerical simulation methods. Random-close packings of uniform, solid (impermeable), spherical particles of diameter d(p) were generated by a modified Jodrey-Tory algorithm in eighteen different conduits with quadratic, rectangular, or trapezoidal cross-section at an average bed porosity (interparticle void fraction) of epsilon = 0.48. Velocity fields were calculated by the lattice Boltzmann method, and axial hydrodynamic dispersion of an inert tracer was simulated at Péclet numbers Pe = u(av)d(p)/D(m) (where u(av) is the average fluid flow velocity through a packing and D(m) the bulk molecular diffusion coefficient) from Pe = 5 to Pe = 30 by a Lagrangian particle-tracking method. All conduits had a cross-sectional area of 100d(p)(2) and a length of 1200d(p), translating to around 10(5) particles per packing. We present lateral porosity distribution functions and analyze fluid flow profiles and velocity distribution functions with respect to the base angle and the aspect ratio of the lateral dimensions of the different conduits. We demonstrate significant differences between the top and bottom parts of trapezoidal packings in their lateral porosity and velocity distribution functions, and show that these differences increase with decreasing base angle and increasing base-aspect ratio of a trapezoidal conduit, i.e., with increasing deviation from regular rectangular geometry. Efficiencies are investigated in terms of the axial hydrodynamic dispersion coefficients as a function of the base angle and base-aspect ratio of the conduits. The presented data support the conclusion that the efficiency of particulate beds in trapezoidal microchannels strongly depends on the lateral dimensions of the conduit and that cross-sectional designs based on large side-aspect-ratio rectangles with limited deviations from orthogonality are favorable.     

Lactic acid derivatives with terphenyl molecular core

New lactic acid derivatives, based on terphenyl molecular core laterally substituted by chlorine atom, have been synthesised and their liquid crystalline properties studied. We varied the molecular structure by prolonging the non-chiral chain and analysed the mesogenic properties with respect to its length. We found that all new compounds reveal the SmA*–SmC* phase sequence in an extremely broad temperature interval. The experimental techniques, namely the polarising optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, x-ray diffraction and helical pitch measurements, have been applied to establish the physical properties. Studied compounds exhibit very high values of the spontaneous polarisation and the tilt angle grows continuously on cooling up to 42°. The pitch values drop down when prolonging the molecular non-chiral chain.     

Reaction and transport effects in the heterogeneous systems for lean gas purification

Sorption of hydrogen chloride gas by active soda and that of hydrogen sulfide gas by calcium oxide are explored by experiment as promising means of removing these detrimental contaminants from fuel gas: active Na₂CO₃ was prepared by the calcination of commercial NaHCO₃ at 200 °C; reactive CaO was formed by decomposing a fine-grained, high-calcium limestone at 830 °C. Techniques with a differential reactor were employed to explore the rate of reaction of HCl with Na₂CO₃ at 500 °C and that of H₂S with CaO at 800 °C. Time-resolved data on the sorbents’ conversion were collected as a function of mean particle size in the range between 0.285 and 1.12 mm. The surface reaction constants, deduced via the tractable model from the initial reaction rates of the two reactions, slightly increase with the increasing particle size. The proposed correlations enable to interpolate or cautiously extrapolate to other isotropic, irregularly shaped solids. The effective diffusivities educed by means of the model from the experimental curves decrease significantly with the increasing conversion and are affected by the particle size in both sorptions. The developed reaction rate equations can conveniently be applied to the design and simulation of the deep dechloridization and the bulk desulfurization of hot producer gas.     

Extreme‐ultraviolet compact spectrometer for the characterization of the harmonics content in the free‐electron‐laser radiation at FLASH

The design and the commissioning results of a portable and compact spectrometer for the high harmonics content characterization of the extreme‐ultraviolet radiation of FLASH (free‐electron laser in DESY, Hamburg, Germany) are presented. The instrument is a grazing‐incidence flat‐field spectrometer equipped with two variable‐line‐spaced gratings; it covers the 2–40 nm wavelength region with a spectral resolution in the 0.1–0.2% range. Both spectral and intensity fluctuations of the fundamental emission and the harmonics are monitored.     

The perspectives of ethanol usage as an internal standard for the quantification of volatile compounds in alcoholic products by GC‐MS

The potential use of ethanol as an internal standard (IS) for GC‐MS analysis was studied. The paper describes the analysis of spirit drinks and other alcoholic products which consist of a mixture of water, ethanol, and volatile compounds. In the suggested method, ethanol was employed as an IS for the common procedure of volatile compounds quantification. A number of standard solutions of nine compounds with different concentrations was prepared in a water‐ethanol matrix and measured with GC‐MS in the SIM mode. Two possible approaches were suggested to avoid detector saturation during ethanol detection. The first one consisted in using less abundant m/z 47 as quantifiers. These ions mainly correspond to unfragmented heavy ethanol molecules containing one ¹³C isotope. The second method consisted in reduction of the voltage of MS electron multiplier. The experiment also included the preparation and subsequent dilution of the standard solution and ethanol with water, which determined the linearity of the modified MS response relative to the ethanol content. Analysis of the obtained results revealed that volatile compounds can be successfully accurately determined with GC‐MS by employing ethanol as an IS. Application of the suggested method is not limited to the reported volatile compounds and alcoholic products.