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Macroscopic Biaxial Order in Multilayer Films of Bent-Core Liquid Crystals Deposited by Combined Langmuir–Blodgett/Langmuir–Schaefer Technique

Authors :
Francesco Vita
Fabrizio Corrado Adamo
Mario Campana
Blake Bordokas
Federica Ciuchi
Maria Penelope De Santo
Daniel Hermida-Merino
Angela Lisovsky
Michela Pisani
Diego Pontoni
Eric Scharrer
Oriano Francescangeli
Source :
Nanomaterials, Vol 14, Iss 4, p 357 (2024)
Publication Year :
2024
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2024.

Abstract

Bent-core liquid crystals, a class of mesogenic compounds with non-linear molecular structures, are well known for their unconventional mesophases, characterized by complex molecular (and supramolecular) ordering and often featuring biaxial and polar properties. In the nematic phase, their unique behavior is manifested in the formation of nano-sized biaxial clusters of layered molecules (cybotactic groups). While this prompted their consideration in the quest for nematic biaxiality, experimental evidence indicates that the cybotactic order is only short-ranged and that the nematic phase is macroscopically uniaxial. By combining atomic force microscopy, neutron reflectivity and wide-angle grazing-incidence X-ray scattering, here, we demonstrate that multilayer films of a bent-core nematic, deposited on silicon by a combined Langmuir–Blodgett and Langmuir–Schaefer approach, exhibit macroscopic in-plane ordering, with the long molecular axis tilted with respect to the sample surface and the short molecular axis (i.e., the apex bisector) aligned along the film compression direction. We thus propose the use of Langmuir films as an effective way to study and control the complex anchoring properties of bent-core liquid crystals.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20794991
Volume :
14
Issue :
4
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Nanomaterials
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.81c0b8437da944e2ae6630262bd868bf
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/nano14040357