Design and investigation of de Vries liquid crystals based on 5-phenyl-pyrimidine and (R,R)-2,3-epoxyhexoxy backbone

S. P. Sreenilayam, D. Rodriguez-Lojo, V. P. Panov, V. Swaminathan, J. K. Vij, Yu. P. Panarin, E. Gorecka, A. Panov, and P. J. Stevenson
Phys. Rev. E 96, 042701 – Published 3 October 2017

Abstract

Calamitic liquid crystals based on 5-phenyl-pyrimidine derivatives have been designed, synthesized, and characterized. The 5-phenyl pyrimidine core was functionalized with a chiral (R,R)-2,3-epoxyhexoxy chain on one side and either siloxane or perfluoro terminated chains on the opposite side. The one involving a perfluorinated chain shows SmA* phase over a wide temperature range of 82 °C, whereas the siloxane analog exhibits both SmA* and SmC* phases over a broad range of temperatures, and a weak first-order SmA*SmC* transition is observed. For the siloxane analog, the reduction factor for the layer shrinkage R (relative to its thickness at the SmA*SmC* transition temperature, TAC) is 0.373, and layer shrinkage is 1.7% at a temperature of 13 °C below the TAC. This compound is considered to have “de Vries smectic” characteristics with the de Vries coefficient CdeVries of ∼0.86 on the scale of zero (maximum-layer shrinkage) to 1 (zero-layer shrinkage). A three-parameter mean-field model is introduced for the orientational distribution function (ODF) to reproduce the electro-optic properties. This model explains the experimental results and leads to the ODF, which exhibits a crossover from the sugar-loaf to diffuse-cone ODF some 3 °C above TAC.

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  • Received 13 July 2017
  • Revised 1 September 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.96.042701

©2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

  1. Physical Systems
Polymers & Soft Matter

Authors & Affiliations

S. P. Sreenilayam1, D. Rodriguez-Lojo2, V. P. Panov1, V. Swaminathan1, J. K. Vij1,*, Yu. P. Panarin1,3, E. Gorecka4, A. Panov2, and P. J. Stevenson2

  • 1Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
  • 2School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Queens University, Belfast BT7 1NN, United Kingdom
  • 3School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Dublin Institute of Technology, Dublin 8, Ireland
  • 4Department of Chemistry, Warsaw University, Al. Zwirki i Wigury 101, 02089 Warsaw, Poland

  • *jvij@tcd.ie

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Issue

Vol. 96, Iss. 4 — October 2017

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