Chirality-preserving growth of helical filaments in the B4 phase of bent-core liquid crystals

The growth of helical filaments in the B4 liquid-crystal phase was investigated in mixtures of the bent-core and calamitic mesogens NOBOW and 8CB. Freezing-point depression led to nucleation of the NOBOW B4 phase directly from the isotropic phase in the mixtures, forming large left- and right-handed chiral domains that were easily observed in the microscope. We show that these domains are composed of homochiral helical filaments formed in a nucleation and growth process that starts from a nucleus of arbitrary chirality and continues with chirality-preserving growth of the filaments. A model that accounts for the observed local homochirality and phase coherence of the branched filaments is proposed. This model will help in providing a better understanding of the nature of the B4 phase and controlling its growth and morphology for applications, such as the use of the helical nanophase as a nanoheterogeneous medium.