Study of polymorphism of 4-hexyl-4'-isothiocyanatobiphenyl by complementary methods

Insight into cold- and melt crystallization phenomena of a smectogenic liquid crystal

This paper describes the insight into the different nature of cold- and melt crystallization kinetics of a smectogenic liquid crystal.

On the relaxation dynamics of a double glass-forming antiferroelectric liquid crystal

The relaxation dynamics in the thermodynamic states of the glass-forming antiferroelectric liquid crystal (S)-4'-(1-methyloctyloxycarbonyl) biphenyl-4-yl 4-[7-(2,2,3,3,4,4,4-heptafluorobutoxy) heptyl-1-oxy]-benzoate (3F7HPhH7) was studied by broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS). Two glass transitions were found at T_g,1 = 259 K and T_g,2 = 239 K, which were associated with the freezing of anti-phase motions and reorientation around the long molecular axis in the antiferroelectric SmC_A* phase, respectively. The low temperature α2-relaxation process shows a Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann (VFT)-type temperature dependence of its structural relaxation time τ(T). The two secondary β- and γ-relaxation modes ascribed to the intramolecular motions observed in the glassy state show Arrhenius behaviour of τ(T). Analysing the band shifts and the oscillator strengths of specific IR absorption bands and their temperature dependencies enables comparing them with the dielectrically determined relaxation dynamics. The kinetics of the isothermal cold crystallization in the temperature range between T_g,1 and T_g,2 was studied in detail using the Avrami and Avrami-Avramow models. This process depends primarily on the diffusion rate and the activation energy is equal to 132 kJ mol^-1. The obtained values of the Avrami exponent n_A suggest that the crystal growth is three-dimensional.

Designing the disorder: the kinetics of nonisothermal crystallization of the orientationally disordered crystalline phase in a nematic mesogen

This article presents the molecular dynamics and solidification behavior of a 2,3-difluoro-4-propylphenyl 2,3-difluoro-4-(4-pentylcyclohexyl)benzoate nematic liquid crystal (5C4FPB3) observed by broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Polarized optical microscopy (POM) is also performed to confirm the phase transition temperatures. Our investigation reveals rare crystallization of the orientationally disordered crystal (ODIC) phase from the nematic phase and a glass transition of the crystal at cooling rates higher than 1 K min-1. The deconvolution of the dielectric spectra with derivative techniques is necessary because of the complex molecular dynamics in the crystalline phase. The BDS method enables us to capture the relaxation processes reflecting pre-crystallization molecular movements. The kinetics of nonisothermal crystallization is studied using the Ozawa, Mo, and isoconversional methods. The present studies suggest that the dominant factor of the crystal growth mechanism depends on the cooling rate. Two types of crystallization mechanisms are identified at cooling rates lower and higher than 5 K min-1. We design a diagram with crystallization and glass transition borders against the cooling rates. Estimations show that crystallization of the present compound can be bypassed at cooling rates higher than 78 kK min-1, at which a glass transition of the nematic phase occurs. We show various scenarios of the molecular order and the crystallization mechanism designed based on the process rate.

Free volume in the smectic-E phase of 4-hexyl-4' isothiocyanatobiphenyl studied by positron annihilation spectroscopy

Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy has been used to study 4-hexyl-4'-isothiocyanatobiphenyl. Changes of the orthopositronium lifetime parameters with temperature have been observed for the supercooled smectic-E phase. The measurements confirm that positronium is created and annihilates in a layer of a lower electron density containing alkyl chains of molecules. The two-state bond-lattice model of glass transition explains the thermal activation of the centers where orthopositronium is created and annihilates when the glass of the smectic-E phase softens. However, the subsequent cold crystallization of the softened regions also influences the orthopositronium lifetime and intensity, which complicates the picture seen by positrons. The measurements during isothermal crystallization suggest that it progresses in two stages. The first stage can be described by the Avrami equation with the Avrami exponent close to unity, which indicates low-dimensional crystallization. Similarly to liquid n alkanes, the application of pressure is equivalent to temperature lowering with the similar equivalence relationship between pressure and temperature, which seems to confirm the structure of the smectic-E phase with sublayers containing alkyl chains in a molten state. The dependence of the orthopositronium lifetime on pressure for the smectic-E phase may be described by the bubble model where the positronium bubble is approximated with a finite square potential well with the depth of U=1.45eV.

Relaxation dynamics and crystallization study of glass-forming chiral-nematic liquid crystal S,S-2,7-bis(4-pentylphenyl)-9,9-dimethylbutyl 9H-fluorene (5P-Am*FLAm*-P5)

The chiral nematic S,S-2,7-bis(4-pentylphenyl)-9,9-dimethylbutyl9H-fluorene (5P-Am^*FLAm^*-P5) liquid crystal shows a complex phase diagram strongly dependent on thermal treatment as identified by Polarizing Optical Microscopy (POM) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The molecular dynamics in various thermodynamics states was studied by means of broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS). The vitrification of a chiral nematic phase (N^*) is manifested by a Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann (VFT)-type temperature dependence of structural relaxation time ([Formula: see text]). Three dielectric relaxation processes exhibiting Arrhenius-like thermal activation were found in conformationally disordered (condis) Cr1 and Cr2 structures. The isothermal cold crystallization process of Cr2 occurs in the metastable N^* phase; however, in the non-isothermal experiments, the Cr2 phase is formed in the isotropic phase obtained on heating the metastable N^* phase. The findings for the isothermal process were compared with those regarding non-isothermal crystallization.

Interplay between Crystallization and Glass Transition in Nematic Liquid Crystal 2,7-Bis(4-pentylphenyl)-9,9-diethyl-9 H-fluorene

This article presents the crystallization behavior and molecular dynamics of the supercooled nematic state of the newly synthesized liquid crystal 2,7-bis(4-pentylphenyl)-9,9-diethyl-9 H-fluorene (5P-EtFLEt-P5) studied by means of broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS). 5P-EtFLEt-P5 is a fragile glass-forming system with a high fragility parameter ( m_f ≈ 121). The study compares the isothermal melt- and cold-crystallization processes at several selected temperatures T_c in the vicinity of the glass-transition temperature T_g (1.07 T_g ≤ T ≤ 1.17 T_g). Our findings reveal that at low temperatures, the crystallization of the Cr1 phase from the nematic melt state occurs more quickly than the cold crystallization. The dimensionality of the growing crystallites ( n) was found to be slightly higher for the cold- than for the melt-crystallization process, varying from n ∼ 5 to n ∼ 3 with increasing temperature. Our experimental results are discussed in terms of dynamic and thermodynamic properties of the material. The study also uses polarized optical microscopy to investigate the isothermal secondary cold crystallization (the formation of Cr2 from Cr1 upon heating), which is inaccessible by BDS measurements because of its very fast crystallization rates.

Glass Transition Dynamics and Crystallization Kinetics in the Smectic Liquid Crystal 4-n-Butyloxybenzylidene-4'-n'-octylaniline (BBOA)

The molecular dynamics of 4-n-butyloxybenzylidene-4'-n'-octylaniline (BBOA, abbreviated also as 4O.8) was studied by broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS) for samples that were exposed to various thermal treatments. Phase transitions between liquid crystalline phases (N, SmA, SmB_hex, and SmB_Cr) were evidenced by abrupt changes in the temperature dependence of the dielectric permittivity spectra and dielectric relaxation times. A particularly complex dynamic behavior was revealed for the highly ordered SmB_Cr phase that showed clear evidence for cooperative dynamics of a glass-forming liquid as manifested by a Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann (VFT)-type temperature dependence of its structural relaxation time τ(T). At low temperatures, dependence τ(T) again changes from VFT to Arrhenius behavior, a phenomenon commonly observed for supercooled liquids confined to nanometer length scales and occasionally discussed as strong-fragile transition on heating. In this context, our observation supports the idea of partial orientation disorder in a quenched SmB_Cr phase, where the length scale of cooperative motions is restricted to the nanometer size of glassy domains causing the deviation from "bulk" VFT-type behavior. Finally, the isothermal crystallization kinetics of the metastable SmB_Cr phase was studied in detail. On the basis of structural information about the SmB_hex and SmB_Cr phases, determined by X-ray diffraction, the subtle relation between molecular order and relaxation behavior is discussed.

Positronium formation and annihilation in liquid crystalline smectic-E phase revisited

The results of the positron lifetime measurements of the quenched smectic-E (Sm-E) phase of 4-butyl-4'-isothiocyano-1,1'-biphenyl (4TCB) are revisited. The sites of positronium formation and annihilation, according to the model with nanosegregated layered structure of the Sm-E phase and molten state of alkyl chains of molecules, are identified in the sublayer containing alkyl chains of molecules. The possibility of vitrification of the Sm-E phase for 4TCB consisting in freezing of the alkyl chain motions is considered as a cause of the thermally activated creation of sites where o-Ps is formed and annihilates in the quenched Sm-E phase. The description of the temperature dependence of ortho-positronium intensity is performed using the glass transition model which assumes that the molecules occupy two thermodynamic states: solidlike or liquidlike regarding mobility of their alkyl chains. The equilibrium temperature between solidlike and liquidlike domains of the model obtained from positron lifetime measurements coincides with the exothermic effect in the temperature dependence of the heat capacity.

Positron annihilation studies of 4-n-butyl-4'-isothiocyanato-1,1'-biphenyl

Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) measurements were performed between 93 and 293 K in order to study the supercooled smectic-E (Sm-E) phase of 4-n-butyl-4'-isothiocyanato-1,1'-biphenyl (4TCB), the ordered molecular crystal of 4TCB, and the phase transition between the Sm-E phase and the ordered molecular crystal of 4TCB. The phase transition was well reflected in the abrupt increase of the ortho-positronium (o-Ps) lifetime and intensity. The value of the o-Ps lifetime in the Sm-E liquid crystalline phase of 4TCB, i.e., 2.21 ns at room temperature, was explained by the formation of bubbles induced by Ps atoms, which are created due to a liquidlike state of the butyl chains of 4TCB molecules in the Sm-E phase. The temperature dependence of the o-Ps intensity for the supercooled Sm-E phase can be explained by thermal generation of sites where bubbles are formed; an activation energy equal to 0.30±0.02 eV was estimated. This value was compared with the activation energies of molecular motions. The o-Ps lifetime in the ordered molecular crystal was interpreted as originating from the annihilation of o-Ps confined in molecular vacancy-type imperfections in the crystal lattice. The value of the o-Ps pickoff annihilation between 1.8 and 1.9 ns is in accordance with the size of the molecular vacancy for the 4TCB crystal lattice. Its intensity is lower than 5%. The isothermal crystallization of the 4TCB Sm-E phase was observed by PALS. The low-dimensional crystal growth was concluded from the Avrami equation fitted to the time dependence of the o-Ps intensity, which resulted in an Avrami exponent equal to 1.73.