Molecular complexity and the control of self-organising processes

John W. Goodby, Isabel M. Saez, Stephen J. Cowling, Julita S. Gasowska, Robert A. MacDonald, Susan Sia, Paul Watson, Kenneth J. Toyne, Michael Hird, Robert A. Lewis, Seung-Eun Lee, Valerij Vaschenko

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

In this article we investigate the complexity of the molecular architectures of liquid crystals based on rod-like mesogens. Starting from simple monomeric systems founded on fluoroterphenyls, we first examine the effects of aromatic core structure on mesophase formation from the viewpoint of allowable polar interactions, and then we model these interactions as a function of terminal aliphatic chain length. By incorporating a functional group at the end of one, or both, of the aliphatic chains we study the effects caused by intermolecular interfacial interactions in lamellar phases, and in particular the formation of synclinic or anticlinic modifications. We then develop these ideas with respect to dimers, trimers, tetramers, etc. We show, for dendritic systems, that at a certain level of molecular complexity the local mesogenic interactions become irrelevant, and it is gross molecular shape that determines mesophase stability. The outcome of these studies is to link the complexity of the molecular interactions at the nanoscale level, which lead to the creation of the various liquid-crystalline polymorphs, with the formation of mesophases that are dependent on complex shape dependencies for mesoscopic supermolecular architectures.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)567-605
Number of pages39
JournalLIQUID CRYSTALS
Volume36
Issue number6-7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2009

Keywords

  • liquid crystal polymorphs
  • liquid crystal modelling
  • ferroelectric and antiferroelectric liquid crystals
  • dimers
  • trimers and tetramers
  • polymer liquid crystals
  • dendrimers
  • supermolecular liquid crystals
  • SMECTIC-C-PHASE
  • HELICAL TWISTING POWER
  • TWIN LIQUID-CRYSTALS
  • POSITIVE DIELECTRIC ANISOTROPY
  • CHIRAL NEMATIC PHASE
  • HEXATIC-B
  • SUPRAMOLECULAR DENDRIMERS
  • SPONTANEOUS POLARIZATION
  • DISPLAY APPLICATIONS
  • PHYSICAL-PROPERTIES

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