Rods to discs in the study of mesomorphism in discotic liquid crystals

TY - JOUR

T1 - Rods to discs in the study of mesomorphism in discotic liquid crystals

AU - Zhong, Tingjun

AU - Mandle, Richard

AU - Saez, Isabel

AU - Cowling, Stephen James

AU - Goodby, John William

N1 - © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

PY - 2018/12/8

Y1 - 2018/12/8

N2 - The rational design of calamitic liquid crystals is an area of research that has been intensively explored due to their extensive applications in various devices. The successful methods for design have been, to some extent, mapped on discotic systems such that certain features of the structures of calamitic phases have been superimposed upon those of nematic discotic and columnar phases. In this article, we explore the correlation between nematogenic behaviour of hard rod-like particles and that of hard disc-like systems. We show that for calamitics, nematic behaviour is observed, whereas for discotics this is not the case. Furthermore, we show that nematic discotic materials are miscible, whereas unlike smectics, columnar phases are less likely to be miscible. Indeed, it appears that columnar discotic phases are greater similarities with soft-solids than true liquid crystals.

AB - The rational design of calamitic liquid crystals is an area of research that has been intensively explored due to their extensive applications in various devices. The successful methods for design have been, to some extent, mapped on discotic systems such that certain features of the structures of calamitic phases have been superimposed upon those of nematic discotic and columnar phases. In this article, we explore the correlation between nematogenic behaviour of hard rod-like particles and that of hard disc-like systems. We show that for calamitics, nematic behaviour is observed, whereas for discotics this is not the case. Furthermore, we show that nematic discotic materials are miscible, whereas unlike smectics, columnar phases are less likely to be miscible. Indeed, it appears that columnar discotic phases are greater similarities with soft-solids than true liquid crystals.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85053492533&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/02678292.2018.1515371

DO - 10.1080/02678292.2018.1515371

M3 - Article

SN - 0267-8292

VL - 45

SP - 2274

EP - 2293

JO - LIQUID CRYSTALS

JF - LIQUID CRYSTALS

IS - 13-15

ER -