"Janus" supermolecular liquid crystals - Giant molecules with hemispherical architectures

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Liquid crystals represent a unique class of self-organising systems, which although found in many day-today practical material applications, such as displays, are also intimately entwined with living processes. They have the potential, just like living systems, to provide us with a unique vehicle for the development of self-ordering nano-and mesoscopic-engineered materials with specific functional properties. In this article we describe a new concept for the design of self-assembling functional liquid crystals as segmented or "Janus" liquid-crystalline supermolecular materials in the form of structures that contain two different types of mesogenic units, which favour different types of mesophase structure, grafted onto the same star-shaped scaffold to create supermolecules that contain different hemispheres. The materials exhibit chiral nematic and chiral smectic C phases.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4869-4877
Number of pages9
JournalChemistry - A European Journal
Volume9
Issue number20
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 17 Oct 2003

Keywords

  • chirality
  • dendrimers
  • liquid crystals
  • self-assembly
  • supramolecular chemistry
  • SHAPE-PERSISTENT
  • DENDRITIC MACROMOLECULES
  • BLOCK DENDRIMERS
  • MICELLES
  • DENDRONS
  • FUNCTIONALIZATION
  • POLYMERS
  • CHAINS

Cite this