Effect of ferroelectric liquid crystalline quaterphenyl structure and handedness on helical pitch length in bicomponent mixtures

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is characterisation of mesomorphic properties and helical structure parameters: handedness and helical pitch, of two laterally substituted ferroelectric compounds and mixtures based on them. These compounds have the same quaterphenyl rigid core and the same length of non-chiral chain – eight carbon atoms, as well as the absolute configuration of chiral centre (‘R’). Base compounds differ in the kind of a substituent in a rigid core (–Cl, –CH₃). Both of them have rather low melting temperature in comparison to most of quaterphenyls, and it affects the lowering of this temperature in binary mixtures. Thus they can be used for preparation of multicomponent ferroelectric mixtures useful for application.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Ferroelectric phase
• quaterphenyls
• phase diagrams
• helical pitch

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Ministry of Science and Higher Education: Grant Number PBS/651/2016/WAT.