Alignment of liquid crystals using Langmuir‒Blodgett films of unsymmetrical bent-core liquid crystals

ABSTRACT

The properties of the thin films of liquid crystal (LC) molecules can be governed easily by external fields. The anisotropic structure of the LC molecules has a large impact on the electrical and optical properties of the film. The Langmuir monolayer (LM) of LC molecules at the air–water interface is known to exhibit a variety of surface phases which can be transferred onto a solid substrate using the Langmuir?Blodgett (LB) technique. Here, we have studied the LM and LB films of asymmetrically substituted bent-core LC molecules. The morphology of LB film of the molecules is found to be a controlling parameter for aligning bulk LC in the nematic phase. It was found that the LB films of the bent-core molecules possessing defects favour the planar orientation of nematic LC, whereas the LB films with fewer defects show homeotropic alignment. The defect in LB films may introduce splay or bend distortions in the nematic near the alignment layer which can govern the planar alignment of the bulk LC. The uniform layer of LB film facilitates the molecules of nematic to anchor vertically due to a strong van der Waals interaction between the aliphatic chains leading to a homeotropic alignment.     

Synthesis and mesomorphic properities of some ferroelectric liquid crystals of lactate

A semiperfluorinated chain has been introduced into three series of lactate-based molecules,and their mesomorphic properities have been studied by DSC and optical polarized microscope.An abnormal phenomenon has been found that the introduction of a triple bond in the core of the molecule,which lengthened the molecule,gave rise to a decrease in the thermal stability of chiral smectic C phase and smectic A phase.2,3-Difluoro substituents of the phenylenic structure hinder the formation of the chiral smectic C phase because of the steric effect.     

An unusual conformation of 1,1′-dimethyl-isoindigo in crystals

The crystal and molecular structure of 1,1′-dimethyl-isoindigo is studied by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. It is shown that the molecules of 1,1′-dimethyl-isoindigo are nonplanar due to the rotation of two oxindole rings relative to the double bond.     

Growth of ZSM-5 crystals within hollow β-zeolite

A zeolite composite composed of ZSM-5 andβ-zeolites has been synthesized by a procedure of the nucleation and crystallization of ZSM-5 zeolite in the hollowβ-zeolite.The property ofβ-zeolite crystals with aluminum-poor interior and aluminum-rich outer rim results in silicon extraction favorably in the aluminum-poor bulk rather than the aluminum-rich external surface.Subsequently,alkaline treatment ofβ-zeolite crystals during the second-step synthesis leads to a preferential dissolution of the aluminum-poor center and the formation of hollowβ-zeolite crystals.ZSM-5 zeolite crystals are therefore embedded and grown within the hollowβ-zeolite.The catalytic activities of Co-Hβ,Co-HZSM-5 and Co-HZSM-5/BEA are investigated during the reaction of methane catalytic reduction NO in the presence of O₂.     

Synthesis and mesomorphic properties of new azine-type liquid crystals

A series of symmetrical azine-type liquid crystals were synthesized. The characteristic of these liquid crystals is that they had high clearing point ( ～320 ℃) and broad thermal range of nematic phase ( ～154 ℃). It was also found that the end groups of the liquid crystals had effect on the mesomorphic properties.     

Third order optical non–linearities of nematic liquid crystals

Abstract

Liquid crystals can exhibit large third order optical non-linearities. Using the Z-scan technique, we have measured the intensity dependence of the non-linear absorption and non-linear refractive indices on time-scales ranging from milliseconds to picoseconds for nematic liquid crystals. This method allows the determination of the non-linear absorption coefficients as well as the signs and magnitudes of the non-linear refractive indices for different polarizations. A two pulse technique further enables estimation of the response time of the dominant mechanism. Using CW argon and Q-switched and mode-locked pumped dye lasers, we have carried out Z-scan measurements on aligned liquid crystal samples as a function of temperature, as well as wavelength. In the geometries studied, director reorientation is not expected to take place. On the nanosecond time-scale, all materials studied were self-focusing for polarization perpendicular to the director, and self-defocusing for parallel polarization. On the picosecond timescale, the samples were self-focusing for all polarizations, but strong non-linear birefringence was typically observed. An attempt is made to relate the bulk response to the molecular structures.     

Colloidal crystals of core–shell-type spheres in deionized aqueous suspension

The structure, crystal growth kinetics and rigidity of colloidal crystals of core–shell-type latex spheres (diameters 280–330 nm) with differences in shell rigidity have been studied in aqueous suspension, mainly by reflection spectroscopy. The suspensions were deionized exhaustively for more than 2 years using mixed-bed ion-exchange resins. The five kinds of core–shell spheres examined form colloidal crystals, where the critical sphere concentrations, _c, of crystallization (or melting) are high and range from 0.01 to 0.06 in volume fraction. Nearest-neighbor intersphere distances in the crystal lattice agree satisfactorily with values calculated from the sphere diameter and concentration. The crystal growth rates are between 0.1 and 0.3 s^–1 and decrease slightly as the sphere concentration increases, indicating that the crystal growth rates are from the secondary process in the colloidal crystallization mechanism, corresponding to reorientation from metastable crystals formed in the primary process and/or Ostwald-ripening process. The rigidities of the crystals range from 2 to 200 Pa, and increase sharply as the sphere concentration increases. The g factor, the parameter for crystal stability, is around 0.02 irrespective of the sphere concentration and/or the kind of core–shell sphere. There are no distinct differences in the structural, kinetic and elastic properties among the colloidal crystals of the different core–shell-type spheres, showing that the internal sphere structure does not affect the properties of the colloidal crystals. The results show that colloidal crystals form in a closed container owing to long-range repulsive forces and the Brownian movement of colloidal spheres surrounded by extended electrical double layers and that their formation is not influenced by the rigidity and internal structure of the spheres.     

Phase separation in mixtures of thermotropic liquid crystals and flexible polymers

The spinodal equation and the concentration-induced anisotropic-isotropic transition equation of the mixtures of thermotropic liquid crystals and flexible polymers have been studied by using the molecular field theory The calculations of the phase diagrams of this system show that,besides the isotropic classic spinodal curve,there ex ists an anisotropic spinodal curve which has not been reported in literature.These two spinodal curves can be linked up by the concentration-induced anisotropic-isotropic transition line.In the various phase regions,demixing may take place due to different phase separation mechanisms.The phase equilibrium curve cannot always join the.spinodal curve at a critical point.These results are considered very meaningful for the understanding of the special properties of liquid crystal/polymer composites and very useful for controlling the morphology and the performance of PDLC materials     

Slow vertical deposition of colloidal crystals: a Langmuir-Blodgett process?

For an evaporating colloidal suspension in which the evaporation velocity exceeds the sedimentation velocity, particles will accumulate at the solvent-air interface. If neither diffusion nor convection can disperse this accumulation, it is expected to grow into a colloidal multilayer several microns thick. We observe that the thickness of colloidal crystals vertically deposited from 1 mum diameter polystyrene latex suspensions of 0.002 < or = phi < or = 0.008 increases linearly with distance in the growth direction and that these thickness profiles are consistent with their growth from a horizontal colloidal layer accumulated beneath the solvent-air interface. We describe a means for performing vertical deposition at growth rates slower than the evaporation rate by adding solvent to the bottom of the colloidal suspension and observe that halving the growth rate of vertical deposition increases both the thickness and the reflectivity of the resulting colloidal crystals, effects indistinguishable from those of doubling the concentration of the colloidal suspension, data also consistent with the colloidal crystals' growth from a horizontal layer of particles beneath the interface. If sufficiently little reorganization is involved as particles move from this horizontal layer to the vertically deposited colloidal crystal, slow vertical deposition of polymer microspheres might be thought of as the Langmuir-Blodgett transfer of a horizontal colloidal crystal onto a vertical substrate. Colloidal crystals deposited using both high concentration and slowed growth can have peak IR reflectance in excess of 80%, exceeding most published values. These observations provide a conceptual framework for engineering vertically deposited colloidal crystals that combine thickness with good optical performance.     

Thermal electromotive force of hot carriers in γ-irradiated single crystals of cadmium mercury tellurides

The effect of γ-irradiation on the thermal electromotive force (emf) of hot carriers in Cd _x Hg_{1 ? x} Te (0.25 ≤ x ≤ 0.95) single crystals has been investigated in weak and strong electric fields. It has been shown that in relatively low fields in which the charge carriers are still warm, the relationship |U _T | ～ E ² is observed because of the dominance of scattering by acoustic vibrations of the lattice with the increasing electric field strength, whereas the dependence of |U _T | on E turns to be linear with a further increase of the electric field when the charge carriers become hot. The thermal emf retains its sign in the γ-irradiated crystals. However, there are significant changes in pattern of the field and temperature dependences of |U _T |, with the dependence of |U _T on E being nonmonotonic at high doses.     

Davydov splitting in the polarized absorption spectra of single crystals of some copper complexes of α-amino acids

This paper presents the absorption spectra observed with polarized light of the single crystals of the copper complexes of L-alanine and DL--aminobutyric acid.The spectra are interpreted by the crystal-field theory.

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Zusammenfassung Es werden die Absorptionsspektren angegeben, welche mit Hilfe polarisierten Lichts an Einkristallen der Kupferkomplexe von L-Alanin und DL--AminobuttersÄure beobachtet wurden.Die Spektren wurden an Hand der Kristallfeldtheorie gedeutet.

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Résumé On donne les spectres d'absorption observés, à l'aide de lumière polarisée, aux cristaux uniques des complexes de cuivre du L-alanine et de l'acide DL--aminobutyrique.Les spectres sont interprétés suivant la théorie du champ cristallin.

     

Alignment of liquid crystals induced by a photopolymerized self‐assembled film

An alignment film derived from a photopolymerized self‐assembled film may be used to orient nematic liquid crystals after irradiating the film with linearly polarized UV (LPUV). A photosensitive cationic amphiphile was first synthesized containing two double bonds and which could be polymerized by UV. A layer‐by‐layer self‐assembled multilayer film was next prepared in an aqueous solution of the cationic amphiphile and poly(sodium 4‐styrenesulphonate); the UV‐Vis spectra showed that each layer of the LBL multilayer film was uniform. When the film was irradiated by LPUV, the photosensitive double bonds underwent [2+2] cycloaddition along the vector direction of LPUV. The polarized UV‐Vis absorption spectra also provided evidence that the film was anisotropic, i.e. the photopolymerization was along a certain direction. The anisotropic film was used as an alignment layer for nematic liquid crystals, and observations under a polarizing microscope indicated that the alignment of the liquid crystals was good, as expected, and that the orientation direction of the liquid crystals was always perpendicular to the electric vector of the irradiating LPUV.     

Synthesis and characterization of thermotropic amphiphilic liquid crystals: semiperfluoroalkyl-β-D-glucopyranosides

As part of our study of the mesomorphic properties of glucopyranosides containing fluorinated chains, this paper focuses on an investigation of the liquid crystalline behaviour of nonaromatic compounds. The synthesis of eight single-tailed materials which contain a semiperfluoroalkyl chain linked to the polar glucose head group is described. Using polarized optical microscopy, DSC and X-ray diffraction all the materials were found to show only monomesomorphism, a smectic A phase with bimolecular layers. The thermal behaviour is discussed in comparison with the previously reported data on the series of parent compounds.     

Photochemical generation of triplet—triplet nitrene pairs in aromatic diazide crystals

The molecular and crystal structures of 4-amino-2,6-diazido-3,5-dichloropyridine and 6-amino-2,4-diazido-1,3,5-triazine, as well as the paramagnetic photolysis products of their crystals at 77 K, were studied using X-ray diffraction analysis and ESR spectroscopy. Triplet nitrenes generated during the photolysis of diazidopyridine form triplet—triplet nitrene pairs, whose ESR spectrum corresponds to the quintet spin state. The high-spin state (S = 2) results from the exchange interaction between two triplet molecules with the zero-field splitting parameters |D| = 1.0280 cm⁻¹ and |E| = 0.0038 cm⁻¹ and the γ angle between two C—N nitrene bonds equal to 133°. This angle is close to an angle of 136.2° between the C-N bonds of two adjacent molecules in the crystal structure. No formation of the triplet—triplet nitrene pairs is observed during the photolysis of crystalline diazidotriazine, whose molecules lie in the parallel planes. Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 3, pp. 513–520, March, 2008.     

Effects of synthesis parameters on the habit of CaO2 · 8H2O crystals

The Ca(OH)₂-H₂O₂-H₂O system at 0°C was studied using X-ray powder diffraction, thermo-gravimetry, and IR spectroscopy. Two solid phases were identified, namely CaO₂ · 8H₂O (I) and CaO₂ · 2H₂O₂ (II). The common concentration boundary of the crystallization fields of phase I and phase II was found to lie at 39 wt % H₂O₂. The existence of a solid phase of composition CaO₂ · 2H₂O (III), which had been discovered earlier by the solid residues method in an intermediate region between the fields of phase I and phase II, is not proven by the results of this study. The lower boundary of the crystallization field of phase I is drawn through a concentration less than 0.02 wt % H₂O₂, which differs from reported values (0.0 and 3.34 wt % H₂O₂). A solubility curve was constructed for phase I; the habit of isolated crystals and their sizes were studied as functions of synthesis parameters over a wide range of H₂O₂ concentrations. Crystals of I, which belong to the tetragonal crystal system, were observed in micrographs to be shaped as square and rectangular plates. Thin square plates preferred to precipitate near the lower concentration boundary, and thicker rectangular crystalline platelets (parallelepipeds), near the upper boundary.     

What is syncrystallization? States of the pH indicator methyl red in crystals of phthalic acid

The concept of syncrystallization was reinvestigated by focusing on phthalic acid (PA) grown with methyl red (MR). Crystals are alternately red and yellow in adjacent growth sectors. X-ray structures of MR and its cocrystals, revealing MR in the neutral, zwitterionic, and protonated states, as well as measurements of linear birefringence and linear dichroism of mixed crystals, were used to investigate mechanisms of PA coloring. These experiments were complemented by force field calculations of the lowest energy stable surfaces of expressed facets and energies of MR on and in crystals, as well as molecular orbital calculations of MR. Two MR species were detected in PA having distinct energies, polarizations, and face selectivities. Assignments of structures to these MRs, previously thought to be neutral and protonated, required a nuanced analysis of hydrogen bonds. The essential difference between yellow and red species is whether the MR carboxylic acid proton is inter- or intramolecularly hydrogen bound. Inferences about mixed crystal structure drawn from an examination of cocrystals of PA and MR are inconsistent with polarization spectroscopy signaling caution when using stoichiometric compounds as models of dilute solid solutions. Upon heating mixed crystals, linear dichroism diminishes and oriented, elongated pools of MR separate and pass through the bulk in directions perpendicular to the direction of elongation. These batonnets subsequently crystallize leaving macroscopic oriented crystals of a MR-rich phase within PA. No evidence was found for the simultaneous crystallization of MR and PA; however, the MR reorientation on heating as well as the separation and recrystallization of a MR-rich phase are distinct processes that could be embraced by the literal meaning of syncrystallization.     

Effect of γ-irradiation on conductivity of cadmium-mercury-tellurium single crystals in weak and strong electric fields

The effect of γ-radiation on electrical conductivity of Cd _x Hg_{1 ? x} Te (0.25 ≤ x ≤ 0.95) single crystals in weak and strong electric fields has been investigated. It has been shown that at relatively low fields in which charge carriers are still warm, the dependence (Δσ/σ₀) ～ E ² is observed because of the dominance of scattering on acoustic lattice vibrations with the increasing electric field strength; with a further increase in the field strength, the carriers become hot and the dependence of σ upon E becomes linear. The effect of irradiation by Γ-rays on the dependence of σ upon E in these samples is explained by a significant concentration of the intrinsic impurity centers in the crystals and their redistribution with the increasing radiation dose.     

Crystal-plane-dependent photoluminescence of pentacene 1D wire and 2D disk crystals

Down to the wire: Pentacene exhibits crystal-plane-dependent photoluminescence (PL) activity, as demonstrated in highly crystalline 1D?wires and 2D?disks, which were selectively synthesized using the vaporization-condensation-recrystallization (VCR) process. Although pentacene 1D?wires and 2D?disks have identical triclinic crystal structures, PL?activity is observed only from pentacene 1D?wires owing to the presence of "PL-active" (010) planes.