Spectroscopic investigation of local molecular dynamics in liquid crystals I. Small molecules

Abstract

The dynamics of liquid crystal systems, consisting of either small molecules or polymer chains with main-chain or side-chain mesogenic groups, can be investigated using the same spectroscopic techniques which are applied to isotropic systems. This article briefly reviews ¹H, ¹³C and ²H N.M.R. and E.S.R. spectroscopy as well as dielectric relaxation. The particular features related to the oriented nature of the liquid crystal phases are developed. Typical examples of studies performed on small-molecule liquid crystals using these various spectroscopic techniques are described.