A ferroelectric nematic liquid crystal vitrified at room temperature

ABSTRACT

Most of the current highly polar rod-shaped molecules that form ferroelectric nematic (N_F) phase do so only at elevated temperatures and multicomponent mixtures are generally needed to obtain a broad and room temperature range N_F phase. In this work, we describe the synthesis, phase characterisation and measurement of various physical properties of a new ferroelectric nematic compound 4-[(4-nitrophenoxy)carbonyl]phenyl 2-isopropoxy-4-methoxybenzoate (RT11165). The molecular structure of RT11165 with a 2-isopropoxy group differs only by a substitution of the 2-methoxy group found in the prototype ferroelectric nematic material 4-[(4-nitrophenoxy)carbonyl]phenyl 2,4-dimethoxybenzoate (RM734). This small structure change produces a rather dramatic change in phase behaviour leading to an N_F phase from 63°C down to room temperature. Below about 45°C the rotational viscosity of RT11165 increases critically and the temperature dependence indicates a glass transition at ~19°C. The transparent and polar glassy state of RT11165, which should be also piezoelectric, is a good candidate for energy storage, piezoecatalysis, data storage and other applications.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Liquid crystal
• polarisation
• room temperature ferroelectric nematic
• Polar glassy liquid crystal

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/02678292.2024.2345214.

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by US National Science Foundation grant [DMR-2210083].