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LC Phases (lc + phase)
Selected AbstractsPhotoswitchable Gas Permeation Membranes Based on Liquid CrystalsADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 17 2010Eric G, owacki Abstract We have fabricated switchable gas permeation membranes in which a photoswitchable low-molecular-weight liquid crystalline (LC) material acts as the active element. Liquid crystal mixtures are doped with mesogenic azo dyes and infused into commercially available track-etched membranes with regular cylindrical pores (0.40 to 10.0 ,m). Tunability of mass transfer can be achieved through a combination of (1) LC/mesogenic dye composition, (2) surface-induced alignment, and (3) reversible photoinduced LC-isotropic transitions. Photo-induced isothermal phase changes in the imbibed material afford large and fully reversible changes in the permeability of the membrane to nitrogen. Both the LC and photogenerated isotropic states demonstrate a linear permeability/pressure relationship, but they show significant differences in their permeability coefficients. Liquid crystal compositions can be chosen such that the LC phase is more permeable than the isotropic,or vice versa , and can be further tuned by surface alignment. Permeability switching response times are 5 s, with alternating UV and >420-nm radiation at an intensity of 2 mW/cm2 being sufficient for complete and reversible switching. Thermal and kinetic properties of the confined LC materials are evaluated and correlated with the observed permeation properties. We demonstrate for the first time reversible permeation control of a membrane with light irradiation. [source] Liquid-Crystal Polymers: Liquid-Crystalline Polymer with a Block Mesogenic Side Group: Photoinduced Manipulation of Nanophase-Separated Structures (Adv. Funct.ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 23 2009Mater. The inside cover image represents a novel azobenzene liquid-crystalline (LC) polymer with a block mesogenic side group, which exhibits a lamellar structure after annealing in an LC phase. Whereas irradiation with linearly polarized light aligns the lamellae parallel to the polarization, irradiation with unpolarized light erases the surface morphology accompanied by photochemical phase transition, as reported by K. Okano et al. on page 3804. [source] A Stimuli-Responsive, Photoluminescent, Anthracene-Based Liquid Crystal: Emission Color Determined by Thermal and Mechanical ProcessesADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 12 2009Yoshimitsu Sagara Abstract Here, a photoluminescent liquid crystal that exhibits a change of emission color on the metastable,stable phase transition induced by external stimuli is prepared. A 2,6-diethynylanthracene derivative with amide groups and dendritic side chains exhibits a columnar phase on slow cooling from the isotropic phase and shows blue emission in this columnar phase. In contrast, a cubic phase is obtained by rapid cooling from the isotropic phase. In the cubic phase, the 2,6-diethynylanthracene cores form excimers, resulting in yellow emission. While the columnar phase is a stable liquid-crystalline (LC) phase, the cubic phase is a metastable LC phase. It is found that a change of the photoluminescent color from yellow to blue is observed on the cubic-columnar phase transition induced by heating or mechanical shearing for this 2,6-diethynylanthracene derivative in the cubic phase. This change of photoluminescent color is ascribed to the inhibition of excimer formation on the metastable,stable LC phase transition. [source] Photoresponsive Ferroelectric Liquid-Crystalline PolymersADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 1 2007P. Beyer Abstract The photoresponse of ferroelectric smectic side-chain liquid-crystalline (LC) polymers containing a photoisomerizable azobenzene derivative as a covalently linked photochromic side group is investigated. By static measurements in different photostationary states, the effect of trans,cis isomerization on the material's phase-transition temperatures and its ferroelectric properties (spontaneous electric polarization PS and director tilt angle ,) are analyzed. It turns out that the Curie temperature (transition SC* to SA) can be reversibly shifted by up to 17,°C. The molecular mechanism of this "photoferroelectric effect" is studied in detail using time-resolved measurements of the dye's optical absorbance, the director tilt angle, and the spontaneous polarization, which show a direct response of the ferroelectric parameters to the molecular isomerization. The kinetics of the thermal reisomerization of the azo dye in the LC matrix are evaluated. A comparison to the reisomerization reaction in isotropic solution (toluene) reveals a faster thermal relaxation of the dye in the LC phase. [source] Phase transition behavior and structure of the thermotropic liquid crystal 6-{[(4,-{[(undecyl)carbonyl]oxy}biphenyl-4yl)carbonyl]oxy}-1-hexyneCRYSTAL RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 9 2006Leijing Liu Abstract The phase transition behaviors and corresponding structures of 6-{[(4,-{[(undecyl)carbonyl]oxy}biphenyl-4yl)carbonyl]oxy}-1-hexyne (A4EE11) were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarizing optical microscopy (POM) and wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD). In comparison with the published homologues, 5-{[(4,-heptoxy-biphenyl-4-yl)carbonyl]oxy}-1-pentyne (A3EO7) which shows a monotropic smectic A (SmA) phase and a metastable monotropic smectic C (SmC) phase; 5-{[(4,-heptoxy-biphenyl-4-yl)oxy]carbonyl}- 1-pentyne (A3E'O7) that exhibits three enantiotropic stable liquid crystalline (LC) phases, SmA phase, SmC phase and smectic X (SmX) phase; 5-{[(4,-heptoxy-biphenyl-4-yl)carbonyl]oxy}-1-undecyne (A9EO7) which has a monotropic SmA phase and a metastable crystal phase, A4EE11 integrates the enantiotropy, monotropy and metastability of the LC phases of those three compounds. Upon cooling from isotropic state to room temperature, in the temperature range of 62.0 to 58.5°C, A4EE11 shows an enantiotropic smectic A (SmA) phase with a layer spacing d=32.69Å. Further lowering the temperature, it enters into a metastable monotropic smectic B (SmB) phase with a longer layer spacing d=34.22Å which has a tendency towards crystallization. The metastability of the liquid crystalline phase may associate to the linkage order of the ester bridge between the mesogenic core and the flexible spacer. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source] Lyotropic liquid-crystalline behavior of polyisocyanodipeptidesJOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE (IN TWO SECTIONS), Issue 6 2007Gerald A. Metselaar Abstract Rigid, helical polyisocyanodipeptides derived from alanine (PIAAs) that form lyotropic liquid-crystalline (LC) phases in tetrachloroethane are presented. An investigation by optical microscopy between crossed polarizers demonstrated that PIAAs prepared by the polymerization of isocyanodipeptide monomers with an activated tetrakis isocyanide nickel(II) catalyst could form cholesteric LC phases in tetrachloroethane in concentrations between 18 and 30 wt %. Cholesteric LC phases that were formed in solutions of greater than 25 wt % displayed a reversal of the cholesteric helix upon annealing at 50 °C. Diastereomeric PIAA mixtures displayed cholesteric LC behavior only when the PIAAs had the same helix screw sense. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 981,988, 2007 [source] Main-chain, thermotropic, liquid-crystalline, hydrogen-bonded polymers of 4,4,-bipyridyl with aliphatic dicarboxylic acidsJOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE (IN TWO SECTIONS), Issue 9 2003Pradip K. Bhowmik Abstract A series of main-chain, thermotropic, liquid-crystalline (LC), hydrogen-bonded polymers or self-assembled structures based on 4,4,-bipyridyl as a hydrogen-bond acceptor and aliphatic dicarboxylic acids, such as adipic and sebacic acids, as hydrogen-bond donors were prepared by a slow evaporation technique from a pyridine solution and were characterized for their thermotropic, LC properties with a number of experimental techniques. The homopolymer of 4,4,-bipyridyl with adipic acid exhibited high-order and low-order smectic phases, and that with sebacic acid exhibited only a high-order smectic phase. Like the homopolymer with adipic acid, the two copolymers of 4,4,-bipyridyl with adipic and sebacic acids (75/25 and 25/75) also exhibited two types of smectic phases. In contrast, the copolymer of 4,4,-bipyridyl with adipic and sebacic acids (50/50), like the homopolymer with sebacic acid, exhibited only one high-order smectic phase. Each of them, including the copolymers, had a broad temperature range of LC phases (36,51 °C). The effect of copolymerization for these hydrogen-bonded polymers on the thermotropic properties was examined. Generally, copolymerization increased the temperature range of LC phases for these polymers, as expected, with a larger decrease in the crystal-to-LC transition than in the LC-to-isotropic transition. Additionally, it neither suppressed the formation of smectic phases nor promoted the formation of a nematic phase in these hydrogen-bonded polymers, as usually observed in many thermotropic LC polymers. The thermal transitions for all of them, measured by differential scanning calorimetry, were well below their decomposition temperatures, as measured by thermogravimetric analysis, which were in the temperature range of 193,210 °C. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 1282,1295, 2003 [source] Columnar liquid-crystalline assemblies composed of spiropyran derivatives and sulfonic acids,POLYMERS FOR ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES, Issue 10 2008Boon-Hooi Tan Abstract A series of fan-shaped spiropyran derivatives with different length of alkyl chains has been synthesized. Liquid-crystalline (LC) assemblies of spiropyran derivatives have been formed by the addition of organic sulfonic acids such as trifluoromethylsulfonic acid, 10-camphorsulfonic acid, 4-methylbenzenesulfonic acid, and imidazolium-based ionic liquids (ILs) having a sulfonic acid group. Equimolar mixtures of a fan-shaped spiropyran derivative with the acidic imidazolium-based ILs exhibit columnar phases with wider LC temperature ranges as compared to those of other mixtures. The ionic interactions formed by the ionic imidazolium moieties should contribute to the stabilization of the columnar phases. On the other hand, equimolar mixtures of the spiropyran derivative with decane-1-sulfonic acid having a long alkyl chain and poly(4-styrenesulfonic acid) do not show mesomorphism. The chemical structure of organic sulfonic acids is a key factor for the induction and stabilization of the LC phases. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Self-Assembly of Imidazolium-Based Rodlike Ionic Liquid Crystals: Transition from Lamellar to Micellar OrganizationCHEMISTRY - A EUROPEAN JOURNAL, Issue 15 2010Xiaohong Cheng Prof. Abstract By using aryl-amination chemistry, a series of rodlike 1-phenyl-1H -imidazole-based liquid crystals (LCs) and related imidazolium-based ionic liquid crystals (ILCs) has been prepared. The number and length of the C-terminal chains (at the noncharged end of the rodlike core) and the length of the N-terminal chain (on the imidazolium unit in the ILCs) were modified and the influence of these structural parameters on the mode of self-assembly in LC phases was investigated by polarizing microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and X-ray diffraction. For the single-chain imidazole derivatives nematic phases (N) and bilayer SmA2 phases were found, but upon increasing the number of alkyl chains the LC phases were lost. For the related imidazolium salts LC phases were preserved upon increasing the number and length of the C-terminal chains and in this series it leads to the phase sequence SmA,columnar (Col),micellar cubic (CubI/Pm3n). Elongation of the N-terminal chain gives the reversed sequence. Short N-terminal chains prefer an end-to-end packing of the mesogens in which these chains are separated from the C-terminal chains. Elongation of the N-terminal chain leads to a mixing of N- and C-terminal chains, which is accompanied by complete intercalation of the aromatic cores. In the smectic phases this gives rise to a transition from bilayer (SmA2) to monolayer smectic (SmA) phases. For the columnar and cubic phases the segregated end-to-end packing leads to core,shell aggregates. In this case, elongation of the N-terminal chains distorts core,shell formation and removes CubI and Col phases in favor of single-layer SmA phases. Hence, by tailoring the length of the N-terminal chain, a crossover from taper-shaped to polycatenar LC tectons was achieved, which provides a powerful tool for control of self-assembly in ILCs. [source] Effect of Core Twisting on Self-Assembly and Optical Properties of Perylene Bisimide Dyes in Solution and Columnar Liquid Crystalline PhasesCHEMISTRY - A EUROPEAN JOURNAL, Issue 2 2007Zhijian Chen Abstract A series of highly soluble and fluorescent core-twisted perylene bisimide dyes (PBIs) 3,a,f with different substituents at the bay area (1,6,7,12 positions of the perylene core) were synthesized and fully characterized by 1H,NMR, UV/Vis spectroscopy, MS spectrometry, and elemental analysis. The ,,, aggregation properties of these new functional dyes were investigated in detail both in solution and in condensed phase by UV/Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy, vapor pressure osmometry (VPO), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarizing optical microscopy (POM), and X-ray diffraction. Concentration-dependent UV/Vis measurements and VPO analysis revealed that these core-twisted ,-conjugated systems show distinct self-dimerization equilibria in apolar solvent methylcyclohexane (MCH) with dimerization constants between 1.3×104 and 30,M,1. The photoluminescence spectra of the dimers of PBIs 3,a,f exhibit bathochromic shifts of quite different magnitude which could be attributed to different longitudinal or rotational offsets between the dyes as well as differences in the respective ,,, stacking distance. In condensed state, quite a few of these PBIs form luminescent rectangular or hexagonal columnar liquid crystalline phases with low isotropization temperatures. The effects of the distortion of the , systems on their ,,, stacking and the optical properties of the resultant stacks in solution and in LC phases have been explored in detail. In one case (3,a) a particularly interesting phase change from crystalline into liquid crystalline could be observed upon annealing that was accompanied by a transformation from non-fluorescent H -type into strongly fluorescent J -type packing of the dyes. [source] | ||||||||||