Understanding the twist-bend nematic phase: the characterisation of 1-(4-cyanobiphenyl-4'-yloxy)-6-(4-cyanobiphenyl-4'--yl)hexane (CB6OCB) and comparison with CB7CB
The synthesis and characterisation of the nonsymmetric liquid crystal dimer, 1-(4-cyanobiphenyl-40-yloxy)-6- (4-cyanobiphenyl-40-yl)hexane (CB6OCB) is reported. An enantiotropic nematic (N)–twist-bend nematic (NTB) phase transition is observed at 109 1C and a nematic–isotropic phase transition at 15...
| Autores: | , , , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2016 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) |
| Repositorio: | UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/91470 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2117/91470 https://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c6sm00537c |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Thermodynamics Transmission electron microscopy Liquid crystals Dimers Hexane High resolution transmission electron microscopy Nematic liquid crystals Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy Termodinàmica Microscòpia electrònica de transmissió Cristalls líquids Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Física::Física molecular Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria química::Química física |
| Sumario: | The synthesis and characterisation of the nonsymmetric liquid crystal dimer, 1-(4-cyanobiphenyl-40-yloxy)-6- (4-cyanobiphenyl-40-yl)hexane (CB6OCB) is reported. An enantiotropic nematic (N)–twist-bend nematic (NTB) phase transition is observed at 109 1C and a nematic–isotropic phase transition at 153 1C. The NTB phase assignment has been confirmed using polarised light microscopy, freeze fracture transmission electron microscopy (FFTEM), 2H-NMR spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The effective molecular length in both the NTB and N phases indicates a locally intercalated arrangement of the molecules, and the helicoidal pitch length in the NTB phase is estimated to be 8.9 nm. The surface anchoring properties of CB6OCB on a number of aligning layers is reported. A Landau model is applied to describe high-resolution heat capacity measurements in the vicinity of the NTB–N phase transition. Both the theory and heat capacity measurements agree with a very weak first-order phase transition. A complementary extended molecular field theory was found to be in suggestive accord with the 2H-NMR studies of CB6OCB-d2, and those already known for CB7CB-d4. These include the reduced transition temperature, TNTBN/TNI, the order parameter of the mesogenic arms in the N phase close to the NTB–N transition, and the order parameter with respect to the helix axis which is related to the conical angle for the NTB phase. |
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