Journal
LIQUID CRYSTALS
Volume 39, Issue 2, Pages 199-204Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/02678292.2011.628703
Keywords
chiral induction; ester; carbon nanotube; twist; electroclinic
Funding
- US Department of Energy [DE-FG02-01ER45934]
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Multi-walled carbon nanotubes were dispersed at low concentrations into various achiral liquid crystals having either a thioester or oxoester linkage group in the core. The presence of the carbon nanotubes resulted in chiral signatures being observed in the liquid crystals, including an electroclinic effect (a rotation of the liquid crystal director perpendicular to, and linear in, an applied electric field) in both the nematic and smectic A phases, and a macroscopic helical twist of the liquid crystal director in the nematic phase. For both experiments the chiral signatures for the thioester liquid crystals were found to be an order of magnitude larger than those of the oxoesters. We speculate that the much larger strength of the thioester's chiral properties is a result of stronger non-covalent interactions between the liquid crystal molecule and carbon nanotube.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available