期刊
CHEMPHYSCHEM
卷 24, 期 6, 页码 -出版社
WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH
DOI: 10.1002/cphc.202200927
关键词
liquid crystals; molecular dynamics; nanostructures; reentrant phase transition; self-assembly
In this study, a combined experimental and computational approach was used to investigate the self-assembly and reentrant behavior of a single-component thermotropic liquid crystal for dynamically functional materials. A designed mesogenic molecule with an unprecedented sequence of layered smectic phases was synthesized, and it exhibited switching functions due to competition between mesogen stacking and conformational flexibility. Ion-conductive reentrant liquid-crystalline materials, showing multistep conductivity changes, were developed.
Reentrant phenomena in soft matter and biosystems have attracted considerable attention because their properties are closely related to high functionality. Here, we report a combined experimental and computational study on the self-assembly and reentrant behavior of a single-component thermotropic smectic liquid crystal toward the realization of dynamically functional materials. We have designed and synthesized a mesogenic molecule consisting of an alicyclic trans,trans-bicyclohexyl mesogen and a polar cyclic carbonate group connected by a flexible tetra(oxyethylene) spacer. The molecule exhibits an unprecedented sequence of layered smectic phases, in the order: smectic A-smectic B-reentrant smectic A. Electron density profiles and large-scale molecular dynamics simulations indicate that competition between the stacking of bicyclohexyl mesogens and the conformational flexibility of tetra(oxyethylene) chains induces this unusual reentrant behavior. Ion-conductive reentrant liquid-crystalline materials have been developed, which undergo the multistep conductivity changes in response to temperature. The reentrant liquid crystals have potential as new mesogenic materials exhibiting switching functions.
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