Study and characterization of the smectic X* phase in binary mixtures of thermotropic double hydrogen bonded ferroelectric liquid crystals

Abstract

Thermotropic double hydrogen bonded ferroelectric liquid crystals (DHBFLCs) composed of N-carbamyl-L-glutamic acid (CGA) and p-n-alkyloxy benzoic acids (BAO) have been investigated. Variation in the molar proportion of X and Y (where X = CGA + 5BAO and Y = CGA + 6BAO, CGA + 7BAO, and CGA + 8BAO) composed of three series yielded 27 binary mixtures. Optical and thermal properties of these mixtures are meticulously studied in the present article. A novel smectic ordering, namely smectic X*, is observed in all the three series. The aim of the investigation is to obtain an abundance occurrence of smectic X* and hence the proportions of the binary mixtures are so chosen that the preamble task is accomplished. Phase diagrams of three series are constructed from the data obtained from polarizing optical microscope (POM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies. Odd–even effect, order of the phase transition, thermal stability factor, thermal equilibrium, and optical tilt angle are also premeditated.

Keywords:

• double hydrogen bonded ferroelectric liquid crystals
• binary mixtures
• smectic X*; odd–even effect
• thermal stability factor
• optical tilt angle

Acknowledgements

Infrastructural support provided by the Bannari Amman Institute of Technology is gratefully acknowledged.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences-Department of Atomic Energy (BRNS-DAE), Mumbai [2012/34/35/BRNS].