H-shaped liquid crystals inducing nematic order in the isotropic liquid

ABSTRACT

We prepared a homologous series of H-shaped liquid crystals I-n and investigated their phase transition properties using optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. All the compounds exhibited a nematic phase at room temperature. The phase transition behaviour is explained in terms of molecular shape anisotropy. Furthermore, those compounds were found to exhibit electro-optical switching in the isotropic liquid in the vicinity of the nematic–isotropic liquid transition, indicating that the microscopic nematic order with a certain coherence length of the molecules exists in the optically isotropic temperature range.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Liquid crystals
• nematic phase
• phase transition
• Kerr effect

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.