Article
Chemistry, Applied
Sivakumar Irla, Mahesh Pruthvi, V. A. Raghunathan, Sandeep Kumar
Summary: In recent years, significant progress has been made in designing new liquid crystalline materials, particularly disc-shaped molecules with rigid π-conjugated structures as active components for electronic devices. A new class of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons derived from pyrene core was synthesized and found to exhibit hexagonal columnar mesophase. Pyrene derivatives, widely explored as novel dyes, may find applications in various optoelectronic devices.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Vinay S. Sharma, Anuj S. Sharma, Suryajit L. Rathod, Hitendra A. Mali, Deepak Suthar, Mahendra S. Dhaka, Pranav S. Shrivastav
Summary: The newly synthesized symmetrical liquid crystalline compounds based on calix[4]pyrrole exhibited columnar hexagonal phase over a higher temperature range. Additionally, CPB2 compound showed potential as an optical window layer in thin film solar cell devices, displaying suitable transmittance and energy band gap. The findings suggest the suitability of calix[4]pyrrole functionalized supramolecular liquid crystal compounds as eco-friendly materials in solar cell applications.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Masaya Masuda, Takuya Kobayashi, Michinari Kohri, Keiki Kishikawa
Summary: A new thermo-optical switching material that demonstrates birefringence inversion without changing columnar alignment by controlling temperature has been synthesized in the field of columnar liquid crystals. The mechanism involves urea molecules forming one-dimensional linear molecular aggregates, which exhibit rectangular and hexagonal columnar phases. The perfect disappearance of texture during the transition between two columnar phases is observed under polarized light optical microscopy.
Correction
Chemistry, Physical
Rahul Uttam, Neelam Yadav, Sandeep Kumar, Ravindra Dhar
Summary: This Corrigendum/Addendum presents corrections to a published article on a room temperature discotic liquid crystalline material. The corrections mainly involve thermodynamic parameters, with negligible impact on the DSC thermogram. The results and discussion section remains unchanged, but discussions were correlated based on corrected values with previously published work for readers' convenience.
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR LIQUIDS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Hong-Tian Xu, Xue Xia, Wen-Hao Yu, Chun Feng, Shi-Kai Xiang, Bi-Qin Wang, Ke-Qing Zhao, Hai-Liang Ni, Ping Hu
Summary: Four truxenone derivatives with bulky methoxy substituents were synthesized and studied, showing complex thermotropic behavior compared to truxenones with identical long alkoxy chains. The methoxy groups led to lower clearing points and temperature ranges in the Col(h) phases while maintaining high melting points. Additionally, one derivative self-assembled into a well-ordered two-dimensional structure at a solid/liquid interface resembling a proposed bulk mesomorphic three-dimensional columnar phase.
Article
Thermodynamics
Mustafa Okumus, Sinan Dindar
Summary: A novel hydrogen-bonded liquid crystalline binary complex system was synthesized from 4-(octyloxy)benzoic acid and n-aminobenzoic acid. The thermal properties and mesogenic phase textures were investigated using DSC and POM experiments, showing a phase sequence of Cr <-> SmA <-> SmC <-> N <-> I. The most stable phase was found to be SmC, and the optical tilt angle increased for the complexes. FTIR and XRD results confirmed the presence of hydrogen bonds and monoclinic molecular ordering in the synthesized complexes.
JOURNAL OF THERMAL ANALYSIS AND CALORIMETRY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Fabricia Nunes da Silva, Hugo Marchi Luciano, Carlos H. Stadtlober, Giliandro Farias, Fabien Durola, Juliana Eccher, Ivan H. Bechtold, Harald Bock, Hugo Gallardo, Andre A. Vieira
Summary: This study found that triply phenanthryl- and tetrahelicenyl-substituted triazine-hexaalkyl esters with short alkyl chains can exhibit glass transitions conveniently above room temperature within the hexagonal columnar liquid crystalline state, resulting in a solid columnar order at room temperature. These glassy columnar liquid matrices can be used for the orientation of guest emitters to achieve anisotropic emission, as the hexagonal columnar mesophase can be easily aligned with a perpendicular director on a solid substrate. The condition for face-on alignment on substrates can be achieved with the moderately nonplanar tetrahelicenyl derivatives, despite their short alkyl periphery. An unusual phase transition between two columnar mesophases of the same hexagonal symmetry but very different long-distance regularity of the column lattice was found in one phenanthryl homolog.
CHEMISTRY-A EUROPEAN JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yang Li, Zunzhi Wang, Mengwei Li, Feiyi Chen, Yang Zhao, Qi Wang, Fanli Lu, Yi Liu, Xiang-Kui Ren, Long Chen
Summary: The research developed two discotic liquid crystalline molecules with a bowl-shaped corannulene core and photoactive azobenzene branches, and studied their self-assembly, photo-responsive behavior, and charge-carrier transport properties. It was found that utilizing longer and furcal flexible side chain substitutions can achieve a wider mesophase temperature range and higher hole charge carrier mobility. The pi-packed corannulene-centered molecule exhibited a helical columnar liquid crystalline phase with enhanced charge carrier mobility compared to the counterpart with linear side chain substitutions.
CHINESE JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Bin Mu, Zhelin Zhang, Yu Zhao, Xiangnan Hao, Wei Tian
Summary: This study presents a series of liquid-crystalline polymers with α-cyanostilbene pendants attached to polymer backbone by varying lengths of ethylene glycol spacers, allowing for tuning of columnar ordering and fluorescence emission wavelength. By elongating the spacer, the columnar dimensions increase and the fluorescence emission blue-shifts gradually, providing insights into the influence of spacer length in liquid-crystalline polymers.
CHINESE JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Kenjiro Yazawa, Kazuchika Ohta
Summary: The liquid crystalline phase of spider silk allows for high concentration storage of the silk protein in the gland, facilitating instant fibre formation. Through X-ray liquid crystal structure analysis, it has been revealed that spider dragline silk fibres maintain a rectangular columnar liquid crystalline phase. This unique structure explains the mechanical strength of the native spider dragline silk fibres. The findings of this study have important implications for understanding silk fibre formation and biomimicry of spider silk fibres.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yu Du, Cai-Li Zhao, Sheng-Yuan Fan, Wen-Hao Yu, Shi-Kai Xiang, Ke-Qing Zhao, Chun Feng, Bi-Qin Wang
Summary: Seven hydrazide-functionalised triphenylenedicarboxyimides (TDIs) with different polar substitutes connected to the imide N atom were studied to investigate the impact of hydrogen bonding and polar substituents on their mesomorphic properties. It was found that hydrogen bonding was not strong enough to stabilize the columnar mesophase, while dipole-dipole effects favored mesophase stabilities. Additionally, the position of lateral substituents had a significant impact on self-assembly by affecting the overall dipole moment.
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Hikaru Takahashi, Michinari Kohri, Keiki Kishikawa
Summary: Axially polar-ferroelectric columnar liquid crystals (AP-FCLCs) are composed of nanosized axially polarized columnar molecular aggregates that can switch their polar directions and maintain them after removing the electric field. We designed a urea compound with specific groups to achieve a smooth phase transition from AP-FCLC phase to crystal phase without disturbing the induced polar structure. The resulting AP-FCLC compound successfully transitions from the FCLC phase to the crystal phase at room temperature while maintaining the induced polarization, enabling long-term maintenance of polarization information.
ACS APPLIED NANO MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Meera Thomas, Anindya Chowdhury, Amit K. Majhi, V. A. Raghunathan
Summary: Cationic surfactants can form complexes with DNA in aqueous solutions, with a variety of columnar structures observed such as square, hexagonal, and superhexagonal. The formation of these different structures can be understood qualitatively in terms of the interplay between entropic and electrostatic contributions to their free energy.
Article
Crystallography
Takahiro Ichikawa, Mei Kuwana, Kaori Suda
Summary: We designed an ionic salt by combining a pi-conjugated anion and a cholinium cation. It formed homogeneous mixtures with water in various weight ratios and exhibited chromonic liquid-crystalline behavior in a wider concentration range than similar compounds with inorganic cations. The cholinium cation not only showed nematic phases, but also hexagonal columnar phases, due to its ability to form mesophases even at high concentrations.
Article
Crystallography
Isabela Dumitru, Florentina L. Chiriac, Monica Ilis, Iuliana Pasuk, Doina Manaila-Maximean, Marin Micutz, Teodora Staicu, Viorel Circu
Summary: This work describes the synthesis and characterization of novel ionic liquid crystals based on pyridinium salts. The stability of the liquid crystals is influenced by the length of the alkyl chains, with longer chains exhibiting two enantiotropic columnar phases. Surprisingly, pyridinium salts with larger counterions do not exhibit liquid crystal properties.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Grant J. Strachan, Magdalena M. Majewska, Damian Pociecha, John M. D. Storey, Corrie T. Imrie
Summary: The study reports the development of new materials by incorporating benzanilide-based mesogenic groups into liquid crystal dimers. The addition of a substituent at the nitrogen atom allows for further modification of the tertiary materials. Lateral substitution is used to modify the conformational preferences of the amide linkage, resulting in liquid crystallinity for a series of N-methyl benzanilide dimers. Structural modifications, such as the inclusion and position of a methyl group, can greatly affect molecular shape and liquid crystalline behavior.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Rebecca Walker, Damian Pociecha, Miroslaw Salamonczyk, John M. D. Storey, Ewa Gorecka, Corrie T. Imrie
Summary: Non-symmetric lactate-based chiral liquid crystal dimers with an odd-membered spacer exhibit a stable chiral twist-bend nematic phase at room temperature. The pitch length in the N*(TB) phase is not affected by molecular chirality, but the transition temperature from nematic to twist-bend nematic is increased.
Article
Crystallography
Andraz Resetic, Jerneja Milavec, Alexej Bubnov, Damian Pociecha, Vera Hamplova, Ewa Gorecka, Bostjan Zalar, Valentina Domenici
Summary: Side-chain liquid crystal elastomers (SC-LCEs) were designed using a new smectic crosslinker. Two types of monodomain films were prepared based on polysiloxane chains with different concentrations of crosslinker and mesogenic comonomers. Differential scanning calorimetry and polarized optical microscopy were used to investigate the mesomorphic behavior of the two SC-LCE systems, revealing different mesophases. The physical-chemical properties of SC-LCEs were studied using various techniques, and their thermo-elastic and thermo-mechanic behaviors were discussed for potential practical applications.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Agnieszka Jedrych, Mateusz Pawlak, Ewa Gorecka, Wiktor Lewandowski, Michal Maksymilian Wojcik
Summary: We have demonstrated the fabrication of dual-responsive (thermo/light) chiral plasmonic films by using photoswitchable achiral liquid crystal (LCs) for templating helical assemblies of Au NPs. The chiroptical properties of the organic and inorganic components were confirmed by circular dichroism spectroscopy (CD), with a dissymmetry factor (g-factor) of up to 0.2. The controlled melting of organic nanotubes and/or inorganic nanohelices can be achieved by exposing the material to UV light and can be reversed using visible light, with the chiroptical response further modified by varying the temperature.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Naila Tufaha, Ewan Cruickshank, Damian Pociecha, Ewa Gorecka, John M. D. Storey, Corrie T. Imrie
Summary: This study reports the synthesis and characterisation of two series of low molar mass mesogens to investigate the effect of changing the position of a lateral alkoxy chain. The materials in the NT3.m series exhibited both a conventional nematic phase and a ferroelectric nematic phase, while the materials in the NT3F.m series exhibited direct transitions between N-F-I phases. The addition of a fluorine atom in NT3F.1 led to a decrease in the N-F transition temperature, but the N-F transition temperatures were higher in the NT3F.m series compared to the NT3.m series. The role of the lateral chain in inhibiting anti-parallel associations and its effect on the electronic properties were found to be key factors in driving the formation of the N-F phase.
CHEMISTRY-A EUROPEAN JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Rebecca Walker, Damian Pociecha, Miroslaw Salamonczyk, John M. D. Storey, Ewa Gorecka, Corrie T. Imrie
Summary: Non-symmetric lactate-based chiral liquid crystal dimers with an odd-membered spacer display a stable chiral twist-bend nematic phase at room temperature. The molecular chirality does not affect the pitch length in the N*(TB) phase, but it increases the transition temperature from nematic to twist-bend nematic.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Natasa Vaupotic, Damian Pociecha, Paulina Rybak, Joanna Matraszek, Mojca Cepic, Joanna M. Wolska, Ewa Gorecka
Summary: In this study, the dielectric properties of a polar nematic phase (N-F) sandwiched between two gold or ITO electrodes were investigated. It was found that the Phason mode could be easily quenched by an electric field and was influenced by boundary conditions.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Karel Pomeisl, Natalia Podoliak, Petra Vankatova, Vera Hamplova, Vladimira Novotna, Damian Pociecha, Martin Cigl
Summary: We have designed new chiral mesogens, OXm/n, derived from natural L-serine amino acid with an oxazoline chiral motif. Our focus was on evaluating the synthesis accessibility and preserving the optical purity of these compounds, which was determined by chiral high-performance liquid chromatography. We characterized the mesomorphic properties of the materials and confirmed the phase identification through X-ray scattering studies. Comparisons were made between the conformationally rigid oxazoline chiral moieties in the derivatives OXm/n and the structurally similar smectogens, ZLm/n, with a flexible (S)-lactate chiral unit to investigate the effect of rigidity on the mesomorphic properties.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ewan Cruickshank, Paulina Rybak, Magdalena M. Majewska, Shona Ramsay, Cheng Wang, Chenhui Zhu, Rebecca Walker, John M. D. Storey, Corrie T. Imrie, Ewa Gorecka, Damian Pociecha
Summary: Two new series of compounds showing the ferroelectric nematic phase are reported, with the variation of terminal chain length. The temperature at which the axially polar N-F phase is formed decreases as the terminal chain length increases. For compounds with intermediate chain lengths, a wide temperature range nematic phase with antiferroelectric character emerges. Dielectric studies reveal both collective and non-collective fluctuations, with different behaviors observed in different phase transitions.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ewan Cruickshank, Grant J. Strachan, Magdalena M. Majewska, Damian Pociecha, Ewa Gorecka, John M. D. Storey, Corrie T. Imrie
Summary: The synthesis and characterization of symmetric liquid crystal dimers containing different terminal chains are reported. The nematogenic behavior is observed in the dimers with short alkylthio or alkyloxy terminal chains, while the higher homologues show the smectic A phase. The dimers with alkylthio chains have lower clearing temperatures compared to those with alkyloxy chains, except for the dimers with the shortest terminal chains. The steric and electronic interactions are discussed to explain the observed behavior.
NEW JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Gytis Stepanafas, Ewan Cruickshank, Stevie Brown, Magdalena M. Majewska, Damian Pociecha, Ewa Gorecka, John M. D. Storey, Corrie T. Imrie
Summary: The synthesis and characterization of liquid crystal compounds containing a terminal methylthio group are reported. These compounds exhibit ferroelectric nematic and antiferroelectric phases, with their transitional behavior dependent on molecular shape and changes in electronic properties.
MATERIALS ADVANCES
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yiping Yin, Zhe Wang, Hua Zou
Summary: This study presents a novel method for preparing dimpled polymer-silica nanocomposite particles using interfacial swelling-based seeded polymerization. The optimized conditions allow for a relatively high percentage of dimpled particles to be achieved.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Brenden D. Hoehn, Elizabeth A. Kellstedt, Marc A. Hillmyer
Summary: Porous materials with nanometer-scale pores have important applications as nanoporous membranes. In this study, ABA triblock copolymers were used as precursors to produce nanoporous polymeric membranes (NPMs) in thin film form by degrading the end blocks. Polycyclooctene (PCOE) NPMs with tunable pore sizes were successfully prepared using solvent casting technique. Oxygen plasma etching was employed to improve the surface porosity and hydrophilicity of the membranes. This study provides a straightforward method to produce tough NPMs with high porosity and hydrophilic surface properties.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Vladislav S. Petrovskii, Stepan I. Zholudev, Igor I. Potemkin
Summary: This article investigates the behavior of linear and ring polypeptide chains in aqueous solution and explores the properties of the complexes formed by these chains with oppositely charged surfactants. The results demonstrate that the complexes of linear supercharged unfolded polypeptides and the corresponding surfactants exhibit impressive adhesive properties.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Merve Cevik, Serkan Dikici
Summary: Cardiovascular diseases are a leading cause of death globally, and vascular grafts are a promising treatment option. This study focuses on tissue-engineered vascular grafts (TEVGs) using decellularized parsley stems as a potential biomaterial. The decellularized parsley stems showed suitable properties for TEVGs, providing a suitable environment for human endothelial cells to form a pseudo endothelium. This study showcases the potential of using parsley stems for TEVGs.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Gustavo A. Vasquez-Montoya, Tadej Emersic, Noe Atzin, Antonio Tavera-Vazquez, Ali Mozaffari, Rui Zhang, Orlando Guzman, Alexey Snezhko, Paul F. Nealey, Juan J. de Pablo
Summary: The optical properties of liquid crystals are typically controlled by electric fields. In this study, we investigate the effects of microfluidic flows and acoustic fields on the molecular orientation and optical response of nematic liquid crystals. We identify several previously unknown structures and explain them through calculations and simulations. These findings hold promise for the development of new systems combining sound, flow, and confinement.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Xinjun Wu, Xin Guan, Shushu Chen, Jiangpeng Jia, Chongyi Chen, Jiawei Zhang, Chuanzhuang Zhao
Summary: This research presents a novel shape memory hydrogel with a remodelable permanent shape and programmable cold-induced shape recovery behavior. The hydrogel is prepared using specific treatment methods to achieve shape fixation by heating and shape recovery by cooling. Additionally, deformable devices can be obtained by assembling hydrogel blocks with different concentrations.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Rebecca Hengsbach, Gerhard Fink, Ulrich Simon
Summary: This study examines the properties of DNA functionalized pNipmam microgels and pure pNipmam microgels at different concentrations of sodium chloride and in PBS solutions using temperature dependent H-1-NMR measurements. The results show that DNA modification affects the volume phase transition temperature and the addition of salt and PBS further enhances this effect.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Ningyi Li, Junhong Li, Lijingting Qing, Shicheng Ma, Yao Li, Baohui Li
Summary: This paper investigates the self-assembly behavior of colloids with competing interactions under spherical confinement and finds that different ordered structures can be formed under different sized spherical confinements. Moreover, more perforated structures are formed in smaller spheres.
