Email
Print 
Share
Bent-Core Liquid Crystals
Bent-Core Liquid Crystals
Liquid crystals straddle the line between a conventional liquid and a solid crystal. Their unique combination of liquid- and solid-like properties allow liquid crystals to be used pervasively in electronic displays.
Within the realm of liquid crystals, there’s a subset of materials known as bent-core compounds. These chemical compounds are composed of many bent-shaped molecules. Bent-core compounds self-organize in a number of exclusive ways. Understanding the structural properties of bent-core liquid crystals helps us make further use of them.
In this research, electric field induced phase transitions are observed by X-ray scattering in certain exotic liquid crystal phases.
Image Credit: ©2011 American Physical SocietyFigure 1. NG126, a complex bent-core compound, is shown in its pristine state.
©2011 American Physical SocietyFigure 2. This is the same sample is under the influence of an electric field of 15 V/µm.
"Electric-field-induced phase transitions in bent-core mesogens determined by x-ray diffraction," J. Ortega, C. L. Folcia, J. Etxebarria, J. Mart´ınez-Perdiguero, J. A. Gallastegui, P. Ferrer, N. Gimeno, M. Blanca Ros, Physical Review E 84, 021707 (2011)
