Calorimetric Study of the Smectic-C to Smectic-F Transition in Terephtal-bis-(4n)- alkylanilines

Abstract

An ac calorimetric study of the fluid smectic-C to hexatic smectic-F transition is reported for the pentyl, hexyl and heptyl homologs of terephtal-bis-(4n)-alkylaniline. The heat capacity peaks, which are rounded over 2–3K, and the shifts in the phase angle φ indicate that the transition is first-order in all three compounds.