Blue phase liquid crystals induced by bent-shaped molecules based on 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives

Abstract

Five bent-shaped molecules derived from the 1,3,4-oxadiazole core are synthesised and doped into chiral nematic liquid crystals to induce the blue phase. The effects of their terminal chain length on the blue phase range are compared and analysed experimentally. The results show that the blue phase range is significantly influenced by terminal chain length, and the widest range could be obtained in the case that the chain length is neither too long nor too short. In addition, it is also found that the mechanism of a blue phase induced by bent-shaped molecules is mainly related with its geometry, no matter whether a liquid crystal phase exists or not.

Keywords:

• blue phase
• liquid crystal
• oxadiazole

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation of China (grant No. 60878047 No. 61108065), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (grant No. WM1014015) and the Research Foundations of ECUST (grant No. yk0157125).