1
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Grelet E, Tortora MMC. Elucidating chirality transfer in liquid crystals of viruses. NATURE MATERIALS 2024:10.1038/s41563-024-01897-x. [PMID: 38783105 DOI: 10.1038/s41563-024-01897-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2023] [Accepted: 04/11/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
Chirality is ubiquitous in nature across all length scales, with major implications spanning fields from biology, chemistry and physics to materials science. How chirality propagates from nanoscale building blocks to meso- and macroscopic helical structures remains an open issue. Here, working with a canonical system of filamentous viruses, we demonstrate that their self-assembly into chiral liquid crystal phases quantitatively results from the interplay between two main mechanisms of chirality transfer: electrostatic interactions from the helical charge patterns on the virus surface, and fluctuation-based helical deformations leading to viral backbone helicity. Our experimental and theoretical approach provides a comprehensive framework for deciphering how chirality is hierarchically and quantitatively propagated across spatial scales. Our work highlights the ways in which supramolecular helicity may arise from subtle chiral contributions of opposite handedness that act either cooperatively or competitively, thus accounting for the multiplicity of chiral behaviours observed for nearly identical molecular systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric Grelet
- Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal (CRPP, UMR 5031), Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, Pessac, France.
| | - Maxime M C Tortora
- Laboratoire de Biologie et Modélisation de la Cellule (LBMC, UMR 5239, Inserm 1293), Univ. Claude Bernard Lyon 1, ENS de Lyon, CNRS, Lyon, France.
- Department of Quantitative and Computational Biology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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2
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Gowda A, Pathak SK, Rohaley GAR, Acharjee G, Oprandi A, Williams R, Prévôt ME, Hegmann T. Organic chiral nano- and microfilaments: types, formation, and template applications. MATERIALS HORIZONS 2024; 11:316-340. [PMID: 37921354 DOI: 10.1039/d3mh01390a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2023]
Abstract
Organic chiral nanofilaments are part of an important class of nanoscale chiral materials that has recently been receiving significant attention largely due to their potential use in applications such as optics, photonics, metameterials, and potentially a range of medical as well as sensing applications. This review will focus on key examples of the formation of such nano- and micro-filaments based on carbon nanofibers, polymers, synthetic oligo- and polypeptides, self-assembled organic molecules, and one prominent class of liquid crystals. The most critical aspects discussed here are the underlying driving forces for chiral filament formation, potentially answering why specific sizes and shapes are formed, what molecular design strategies are working equally well or rather differently among these materials classes, and what uses and applications are driving research in this fascinating field of materials science.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashwathanarayana Gowda
- Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA.
| | - Suraj Kumar Pathak
- Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA.
| | - Grace A R Rohaley
- Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA.
- Materials Science Graduate Program, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA
| | - Gourab Acharjee
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA
| | - Andrea Oprandi
- Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA.
- Materials Science Graduate Program, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA
| | - Ryan Williams
- Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA.
- Materials Science Graduate Program, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA
| | - Marianne E Prévôt
- Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA.
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA
| | - Torsten Hegmann
- Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA.
- Brain Health Research Institute, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA
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3
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Shi W, Liang K, Wang R, Liu J, Lu C. Biased Symmetry Breaking in the Formation of Intercalated Layered Double Hydroxides: toward Control of Homochiral Supramolecular Assembly. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2023; 19:e2303497. [PMID: 37376810 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202303497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2023] [Revised: 06/20/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023]
Abstract
Homochiral supramolecular assembly (HSA) based on achiral molecules has provided important clues to understand the origin of biological homochirality from the aspect of symmetry breaking. However, planar achiral molecules still face the challenge of forming HSA due to the lack of driving force for twisted stacking, which is a prerequisite for homochirality. Here, with the benefit of the formation of 2D intercalated layered double hydroxide (LDH, host-guest nanomaterials) in vortex motion, planar achiral guest molecules can form the chiral units with spatially asymmetrical structure in the confinement space of LDH. Once the LDH is removed, these chiral units are in a thermodynamic non-equilibrium state, which can be amplified to HSA by self-replicating. Especially, the homochiral bias can be predicted in advance by controlling the vortex direction. Therefore, this study breaks the bottleneck of complicated molecular design and provides a new technology to achieve HSA made of planar achiral molecules with definite handedness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenying Shi
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, 15 Beisanhuan East Road, P. Box 98, Beijing, 100029, P. R. China
| | - Kaixiang Liang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, 15 Beisanhuan East Road, P. Box 98, Beijing, 100029, P. R. China
| | - Ruixing Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, 15 Beisanhuan East Road, P. Box 98, Beijing, 100029, P. R. China
| | - Jing Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, 15 Beisanhuan East Road, P. Box 98, Beijing, 100029, P. R. China
| | - Chao Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, 15 Beisanhuan East Road, P. Box 98, Beijing, 100029, P. R. China
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4
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Zong Y, Xu SM, Shi W, Lu C. Chiral Hierarchical Architecture Induced by Confinement-Assisted Living Supramolecular Polymerization of Simple Achiral Molecules. ACS NANO 2023; 17:3838-3846. [PMID: 36779509 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.2c12063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Chiral supramolecular assembly (CSA) based on achiral molecules has provided important clues to understand the origin of biological chirality. However, a simple achiral monomer faces the challenge of chiral stacking with the absence of a chiral resource. The difficulty is that simple achiral monomer lacks steric repulsion to provide asymmetry during hierarchical assembly, which is a prerequisite for chiral stacking with an angle. Moreover, during chiral stacking of achiral molecules or units, the right-handed and left-handed chiral supramolecular isomers (CSIs) are equally formed due to the mirror-imaged conformation, which leads to chirality silence. Here, with the benefit of two-dimensional confinement space of layered double hydroxide (LDH), simple achiral molecules can be arranged to staggered bilayer arrays by imprinting the topological structure of LDH. Once LDH is removed, these staggered arrays can form asymmetric living seeds, which can further elongate to living units with the advantage of living supramolecular polymerization (LSP) by following off-pathway. Due to the asymmetry of living units, the possible chiral stacking outcomes, CSIs, are not mirror-imaged. With the increase of the molecular number in living units, the energy difference between CSIs can be amplified by self-replication of LSP, leading to handedness preference. Thus, the detectable CSA is mainly derived from the CSI with energetically favored hierarchical structure. Thus, our strategy breaks the stereotype that the complex molecular structure and symmetry breaking mechanism are necessary for the formation of detectable CSA by achiral molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingtong Zong
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, 15 Beisanhuan East Road, P. Box 98, 100029 Beijing, P. R. China
- Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Organo-Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Gannan Normal University, 341000 Ganzhou, Jiangxi, P. R. China
| | - Si-Min Xu
- Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Organo-Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Gannan Normal University, 341000 Ganzhou, Jiangxi, P. R. China
| | - Wenying Shi
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, 15 Beisanhuan East Road, P. Box 98, 100029 Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Chao Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, 15 Beisanhuan East Road, P. Box 98, 100029 Beijing, P. R. China
- Green Catalysis Center, College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, 450001 Zhengzhou, P. R. China
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5
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Chiroptical Performances in Self-Assembled Hierarchical Nanosegregated Chiral Intermediate Phases Composed of Two Different Achiral Bent-Core Molecules. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms232314629. [PMID: 36498956 PMCID: PMC9736540 DOI: 10.3390/ijms232314629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Revised: 11/21/2022] [Accepted: 11/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
In this paper, chiral intermediate phases composed of two achiral molecules are fabricated by utilizing nanophase separation and molecular hierarchical self-organization. An achiral bent-core guest molecule, exhibiting a calamitic nematic and a dark conglomerate phase according to the temperature, is mixed with another achiral bent-core host molecule possessing a helical nanofilament to separate the phases between them. Two nanosegregated phases are identified, and considerable chiroptical changes, such as circular dichroism and circularly polarized luminescence, are detected at the transition temperatures between the different nanophase-separated states. The nanosegregated chiral phase-wherein the helical nanofilament and dark conglomerate phases are phase-separated-exhibits the highest chiroptical intensities. The luminescence dissymmetry factor, |glum|, in this phase is amplified by an order of magnitude compared with that of another nanosegregated phase, wherein the helical nanofilament and nematic phases are phase-separated.
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6
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Eremin A, Murad A, Alaasar M. Shear-induced birefringence in an optically isotropic cubic liquid crystalline phase. SOFT MATTER 2022; 18:8315-8319. [PMID: 36300301 DOI: 10.1039/d2sm01148d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
We report an unusually strong flow-induced birefringence in an optically isotropic cubic phase occurring below the isotropic chiral conglomerate phase formed by a low-molecular-weight polycatenar mesogen. The transition into the birefringent state occurs thresholdless and the induced birefringence is comparable with that observed in polymeric systems. We suggest that the flow-induced deformation of the cubic structure is responsible for the strong rheo-optical response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexey Eremin
- Department of Nonlinear Phenomena, Institute for Physics Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany.
| | - Ahmad Murad
- Department of Nonlinear Phenomena, Institute for Physics Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany.
| | - Mohamed Alaasar
- Department of Chemistry, Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany.
- Department of Chemistry, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
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7
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Shang W, Zhu X, Jiang Y, Cui J, Liu K, Li T, Liu M. Self‐Assembly of Macrocyclic Triangles into Helicity‐Opposite Nanotwists by Competitive Planar over Point Chirality. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2022; 61:e202210604. [DOI: 10.1002/anie.202210604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Weili Shang
- College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering Zhengzhou University Kexuedadao 100 Zhengzhou 450001 China
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science (BNLMS) Key Laboratory of Colloid Interface and Chemical Thermodynamics Institute of Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences ZhongGuanCun North First Street 2 Beijing 100190 China
| | - Xuefeng Zhu
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science (BNLMS) Key Laboratory of Colloid Interface and Chemical Thermodynamics Institute of Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences ZhongGuanCun North First Street 2 Beijing 100190 China
| | - Yuqian Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication National Center for Nanoscience and Technology Beijing 100190 China
| | - Jie Cui
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science (BNLMS) Key Laboratory of Colloid Interface and Chemical Thermodynamics Institute of Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences ZhongGuanCun North First Street 2 Beijing 100190 China
| | - Kaiang Liu
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science (BNLMS) Key Laboratory of Colloid Interface and Chemical Thermodynamics Institute of Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences ZhongGuanCun North First Street 2 Beijing 100190 China
| | - Tiesheng Li
- College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering Zhengzhou University Kexuedadao 100 Zhengzhou 450001 China
| | - Minghua Liu
- College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering Zhengzhou University Kexuedadao 100 Zhengzhou 450001 China
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science (BNLMS) Key Laboratory of Colloid Interface and Chemical Thermodynamics Institute of Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences ZhongGuanCun North First Street 2 Beijing 100190 China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100049 China
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8
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Shang W, Zhu X, Jiang Y, Cui J, Liu K, Li T, Liu M. Self‐Assembly of Macrocyclic Triangles into Helicity‐Opposite Nanotwists by Competitive Planar over Point Chirality. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ange.202210604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Weili Shang
- Zhengzhou University College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering CHINA
| | - Xuefeng Zhu
- Institute of Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), Key Laboratory of Colloid, Interface and Chemical Thermodynamics CHINA
| | - Yuqian Jiang
- National Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology: National Center for Nanoscience and Technology Key laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication CHINA
| | - Jie Cui
- Institute of Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS) CHINA
| | - Kaiang Liu
- Institute of Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS) CHINA
| | - Tiesheng Li
- Zhengzhou University College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering CHINA
| | - Minghua Liu
- Institute of Chemistry, CAS Laboratory of Colloid and Interface Scie Zhong Guancun 100080 Beijing CHINA
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9
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Kubala P, Tomczyk W, Cieśla M. In silico study of liquid crystalline phases formed by bent-shaped molecules with excluded volume type interactions. J Mol Liq 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.molliq.2022.120156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
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10
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Yu G, Wilson MR. All-atom simulations of bent liquid crystal dimers: the twist-bend nematic phase and insights into conformational chirality. SOFT MATTER 2022; 18:3087-3096. [PMID: 35377382 DOI: 10.1039/d2sm00291d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The liquid crystal dimer 1,7-bis-4-(4'-cyanobiphenyl)heptane (CB7CB) is known to exhibit a nematic-nematic phase transition, with the lower temperature phase identified as the twist-bend nematic (NTB) phase. Despite the achiral nature of the mesogen, the NTB phase demonstrates emergent chirality through the spontaneous formation of a helical structure. We present extensive molecular dynamics simulations of CB7CB using an all-atom force field. The NTB phase is observed in this model and, upon heating, shows phase transitions into the nematic (N) and isotropic phases. The simulated NTB phase returns a pitch of 8.35 nm and a conical tilt angle of 29°. Analysis of the bend angle between the mesogenic units reveals an average angle of 127°, which is invariant to the simulated phase. We have calculated distributions of the chirality order parameter, χ, for the ensemble of conformers in the NTB and N phases. These distributions elucidate that CB7CB is statistically achiral but can adopt chiral conformers with no preference for a specific handedness. Furthermore, there is no change in the extent of conformational chirality between the NTB and N phases. Using single-molecule stochastic dynamics simulations in the gas phase, we study the dimer series CBnCB (where n = 6, 7, 8 or 9) and CBX(CH2)5YCB (where X/Y = CH2, O or S) in terms of the bend angle and conformational chirality. We confirm that the bent molecular shape determines the ability of a dimer to exhibit the NTB phase rather than its potential to assume chiral conformers; as |χ|max increases with the spacer length, but the even-membered dimers have a linear shape in contrast to the bent nature of dimers with spacers of odd parity. For CBX(CH2)5YCB, it is found that |χ|max increases as the bend angle of the dimer decreases, while the flexibility of the dimers remains unchanged through the series.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gary Yu
- Department of Chemistry, Durham University, Lower Mountjoy, Stockton Road, Durham, UK.
| | - Mark Richard Wilson
- Department of Chemistry, Durham University, Lower Mountjoy, Stockton Road, Durham, UK.
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11
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Alaasar M, Cai X, Kraus F, Giese M, Liu F, Tschierske C. Controlling ambidextrous mirror symmetry breaking in photosensitive supramolecular polycatenars by alkyl-chain engineering. J Mol Liq 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.molliq.2022.118597] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
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12
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Park W, Lee J, Han MJ, Wolska J, Pociecha D, Gorecka E, Seo MK, Choi YS, Yoon DK. Light-Driven Fabrication of a Chiral Photonic Lattice of the Helical Nanofilament Liquid Crystal Phase. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2022; 14:4409-4416. [PMID: 35029362 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c19382] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
A photonic lattice is an efficient platform for optically exploring quantum phenomena. However, its fabrication requires high costs and complex procedures when conventional materials, such as silicon or metals, are used. Here, we demonstrate a simple and cost-effective fabrication method for a reconfigurable chiral photonic lattice of the helical nanofilament (HNF) liquid crystal (LC) phase and diffraction grating showing wavelength-dependent diffraction with a rotated polarization state. Furthermore, the UV-exposed areas of the HNF film having chiral characteristics act as optical building blocks that induce resonant intensity modulation in the reflectance and transmittance modes and the optical rotation of the linear polarization. Our photonic lattice of the HNF can be an efficient platform for a chirality-embedded photonic lattice at a low cost.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wongi Park
- Graduate School of Nanoscience and Technology, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Jongmin Lee
- Department of Physics, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Moon Jong Han
- Graduate School of Nanoscience and Technology, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Joanna Wolska
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Warsaw 02-089, Poland
| | - Damian Pociecha
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Warsaw 02-089, Poland
| | - Ewa Gorecka
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Warsaw 02-089, Poland
| | - Min-Kyo Seo
- Department of Physics, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Yun-Seok Choi
- Department of Chemistry, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Dong Ki Yoon
- Graduate School of Nanoscience and Technology, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
- Department of Chemistry, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
- KAIST Institute for Nanocentury, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
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13
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Liang J, Liang J, Hao A, Xing P. Symmetry breaking-induced double-strand helices in H-bonded coassembly. NANOSCALE 2021; 13:12929-12937. [PMID: 34477776 DOI: 10.1039/d1nr02515e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Double-strand helical structures are important in information storage of biomacromolecules, while the artificial synthesis depends on chirality transfer from the molecular to supramolecular scale, and the synthesis through symmetry breaking has yet been accomplished. In this work, we present the multiple-constituent coassembly of a melamine derivative and an N-terminal aromatic amino acid into double helical nanoarchitectures via symmetry breaking. Multiple intramolecular H-bond formation between constituents played key roles in directing the formation of helical structures. Intertwining of single helices with identical helical parameters afforded double helical structures, benefiting from the uniformity and monodispersity of nanoarchitectures. With introduction of coded chiral amino acid derivatives as chiral sources, the handedness could be readily manipulated with exclusive correlation to the absolute chirality of amino acids. Molecular flexibility of the melamine derivative facilitates the propeller-shaped complex formation to afford helical columnar coassemblies and double helical structures. This work presents a rational control over the emergence and properties of double helical structures in multiple-constituent coassemblies through symmetry breaking, which provides an alternative method towards the synthesis of topological chiral composites and chiroptical materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juncong Liang
- Key Laboratory of Colloid and Interface Chemistry of Ministry of Education and School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, People's Republic of China.
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14
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Alaasar M, Schmidt JC, Cai X, Liu F, Tschierske C. Controlling liquid and liquid crystalline network formation by core-fluorination of hydrogen bonded supramolecular polycatenars. J Mol Liq 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.molliq.2021.115870] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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15
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Szustakiewicz P, Kowalska N, Grzelak D, Narushima T, Góra M, Bagiński M, Pociecha D, Okamoto H, Liz-Marzán LM, Lewandowski W. Supramolecular Chirality Synchronization in Thin Films of Plasmonic Nanocomposites. ACS NANO 2020; 14:12918-12928. [PMID: 32886482 PMCID: PMC7596782 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c03964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Mirror symmetry breaking in materials is a fascinating phenomenon that has practical implications for various optoelectronic technologies. Chiral plasmonic materials are particularly appealing due to their strong and specific interactions with light. In this work we broaden the portfolio of available strategies toward the preparation of chiral plasmonic assemblies, by applying the principles of chirality synchronization-a phenomenon known for small molecules, which results in the formation of chiral domains from transiently chiral molecules. We report the controlled cocrystallization of 23 nm gold nanoparticles and liquid crystal molecules yielding domains made of highly ordered, helical nanofibers, preferentially twisted to the right or to the left within each domain. We confirmed that such micrometer sized domains exhibit strong, far-field circular dichroism (CD) signals, even though the bulk material is racemic. We further highlight the potential of the proposed approach to realize chiral plasmonic thin films by using a mechanical chirality discrimination method. Toward this end, we developed a rapid CD imaging technique based on the use of polarized light optical microscopy (POM), which enabled probing the CD signal with micrometer-scale resolution, despite of linear dichroism and birefringence in the sample. The developed methodology allows us to extend intrinsically local effects of chiral synchronization to the macroscopic scale, thereby broadening the available tools for chirality manipulation in chiral plasmonic systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Piotr Szustakiewicz
- Laboratory
of Organic Nanomaterials and Biomolecules, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1 Street, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Natalia Kowalska
- Laboratory
of Organic Nanomaterials and Biomolecules, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1 Street, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Dorota Grzelak
- Laboratory
of Organic Nanomaterials and Biomolecules, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1 Street, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Tetsuya Narushima
- Institute
for Molecular Science (IMS) and The Graduate University for Advanced
Studies (SOKENDAI), 38
Nishigonaka, Myodaiji, Okazaki, Aichi 444-8585, Japan
| | - Monika Góra
- Laboratory
of Organic Nanomaterials and Biomolecules, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1 Street, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Maciej Bagiński
- Laboratory
of Organic Nanomaterials and Biomolecules, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1 Street, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Damian Pociecha
- Faculty
of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, 101 Żwirki i Wigury, 02-089 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Hiromi Okamoto
- Institute
for Molecular Science (IMS) and The Graduate University for Advanced
Studies (SOKENDAI), 38
Nishigonaka, Myodaiji, Okazaki, Aichi 444-8585, Japan
| | - Luis M. Liz-Marzán
- CIC
biomaGUNE, Basque Research and Technology
Alliance (BRTA), Paseo
de Miramón 182, Donostia-San Sebastián 20014, Spain
- Ikerbasque,
Basque Foundation for Science, 48013 Bilbao, Spain
- Centro
de Investigación en Biomédica Red de Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Paseo de Miramón 182, Donostia-San Sebastián 20014, Spain
| | - Wiktor Lewandowski
- Laboratory
of Organic Nanomaterials and Biomolecules, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1 Street, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
- (W.L.)
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16
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Wang L, Urbas AM, Li Q. Nature-Inspired Emerging Chiral Liquid Crystal Nanostructures: From Molecular Self-Assembly to DNA Mesophase and Nanocolloids. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2020; 32:e1801335. [PMID: 30160812 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201801335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 157] [Impact Index Per Article: 39.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2018] [Revised: 05/17/2018] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Liquid crystals (LCs) are omnipresent in living matter, whose chirality is an elegant and distinct feature in certain plant tissues, the cuticles of crabs, beetles, arthropods, and beyond. Taking inspiration from nature, researchers have recently devoted extensive efforts toward developing chiral liquid crystalline materials with self-organized nanostructures and exploring their potential applications in diverse fields ranging from dynamic photonics to energy and safety issues. In this review, an account on the state of the art of emerging chiral liquid crystalline nanostructured materials and their technological applications is provided. First, an overview on the significance of chiral liquid crystalline architectures in various living systems is given. Then, the recent significant progress in different chiral liquid crystalline systems including thermotropic LCs (cholesteric LCs, cubic blue phases, achiral bent-core LCs, etc.) and lyotropic LCs (DNA LCs, nanocellulose LCs, and graphene oxide LCs) is showcased. The review concludes with a perspective on the future scope, opportunities, and challenges in these truly advanced functional soft materials and their promising applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ling Wang
- Liquid Crystal Institute and Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44242, USA
| | - Augustine M Urbas
- Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, 45433, USA
| | - Quan Li
- Liquid Crystal Institute and Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44242, USA
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17
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Lewandowski W, Vaupotič N, Pociecha D, Górecka E, Liz-Marzán LM. Chirality of Liquid Crystals Formed from Achiral Molecules Revealed by Resonant X-Ray Scattering. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2020; 32:e1905591. [PMID: 32529663 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201905591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2019] [Revised: 03/14/2020] [Accepted: 03/16/2020] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Intensive research on chiral liquid crystals (LCs) has been fueled by their actively tunable physicochemical properties and structural complexity, comparable to those of sophisticated natural materials. Herein, recent progress in the discovery of new classes of chiral LCs, enabled by a combination of nano- and macroscale investigations is reviewed. First, an overview is provided of liquid crystalline phases, made of chiral and achiral low-weight molecules, that exhibit chiral structure and/or chiral morphology. Then, recent progress in the discovery of new classes of chiral LCs, particularly enabled by the application of resonant X-ray scattering is described. It is shown that the method is sensitive to modulations of molecular orientation and therefore provides information hardly accessible by means of other techniques, such as the sense of helical structures or chirality transfer across length scales. Finally, a perspective is presented on the future scope, opportunities, and challenges in the field of chiral LCs, in particular related to nanocomposites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wiktor Lewandowski
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1 St., Warsaw, 02-093, Poland
| | - Nataša Vaupotič
- Department of Physics, University of Maribor, Koroška 160, Maribor, 2000, Slovenia
- Jozef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, Ljubljana, 1000, Slovenia
| | - Damian Pociecha
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1 St., Warsaw, 02-093, Poland
| | - Ewa Górecka
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1 St., Warsaw, 02-093, Poland
| | - Luis M Liz-Marzán
- CIC biomaGUNE and CIBER-BBN, Paseo de Miramón 182, Donostia-San Sebastián, 20014, Spain
- Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, 48013, Spain
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18
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Wang F, Gan F, Shen C, Qiu H. Amplifiable Symmetry Breaking in Aggregates of Vibrating Helical Molecules. J Am Chem Soc 2020; 142:16167-16172. [DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c06932] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Fang Wang
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Fuwei Gan
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Chengshuo Shen
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Huibin Qiu
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
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19
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Orientation Control of Helical Nanofilament Phase and Its Chiroptical Applications. CRYSTALS 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/cryst10080675] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Chiral liquid crystal phases show fascinating structural and optical properties due to their inherent helical characteristics. Among the various chiral liquid crystal phases, the helical nanofilament phase, made of achiral bent-shaped molecules, has been of keen research interest due to its unusual polar and chiral properties. This review is intended to introduce the recent progress in orientation control and its application to the helical nanofilament phase, which includes topographic confinement, photoalignment, and chiroptical applications such as photonic crystal and chirality sensor.
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20
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Possible Physical Basis of Mirror Symmetry Effect in Racemic Mixtures of Enantiomers: From Wallach’s Rule, Nonlinear Effects, B–Z DNA Transition, and Similar Phenomena to Mirror Symmetry Effects of Chiral Objects. Symmetry (Basel) 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/sym12060889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Effects associated with mirror symmetry may be underlying for a number of phenomena in chemistry and physics. Increase in the density and melting point of the 50%L/50%D collection of enantiomers of a different sign (Wallach’s rule) is probably based on a physical effect of the mirror image. The catalytic activity of metal complexes with racemic ligands differs from the corresponding complexes with enantiomers as well (nonlinear effect). A similar difference in the physical properties of enantiomers and racemate underlies L/D inversion points of linear helical macromolecules, helical nanocrystals of magnetite and boron nitride etc., B–Z DNA transition and phenomenon of mirror neurons may have a similar nature. Here we propose an explanation of the Wallach effect along with some similar chemical, physical, and biological phenomena related to mirror image.
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21
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Lee JJ, Kim BC, Choi HJ, Bae S, Araoka F, Choi SW. Inverse Helical Nanofilament Networks Serving as a Chiral Nanotemplate. ACS NANO 2020; 14:5243-5250. [PMID: 32227912 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c00393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Herein, an epoch-making method based on bottom-up templating is proposed for the fabrication of a chiral nanoporous film that provides a chiral environment in which to confine nematic liquid crystals. A helical nanofilamental network of bent-core molecules was utilized as a three-dimensional mold, and thus the fabricated chiral nanoporous film has an inverse nanohelical structure. The presence of a chiral superstructure was confirmed by the observation of circular dichroism signals. Upon refilling this chiral nanoporous film with an achiral nematic liquid crystal, distinct circular dichroism signals appeared due to the transfer of chirality from the inverse helical nanofilaments to the achiral nematic liquid crystal. The circular dichroism signals can be readily modulated by external stimuli, such as the application of heat or an electric field. In addition, by refilling the chiral nanoporous film with a nematic liquid crystal doped with fluorescent dye, it exhibits stimuli-responsive circularly polarized luminescence. The proposed approach has huge potential for practical applications, such as for chiroptical modulators and switches and biological sensors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jae-Jin Lee
- Department of Advanced Materials Engineering for Information and Electronics (BK21Plus) Kyung Hee University, Yongin-shi, Gyeonggi-do 17104, Korea
| | - Byeong-Cheon Kim
- Department of Advanced Materials Engineering for Information and Electronics (BK21Plus) Kyung Hee University, Yongin-shi, Gyeonggi-do 17104, Korea
| | - Hyeon-Joon Choi
- Department of Advanced Materials Engineering for Information and Electronics (BK21Plus) Kyung Hee University, Yongin-shi, Gyeonggi-do 17104, Korea
| | - Sangwok Bae
- Department of Advanced Materials Engineering for Information and Electronics (BK21Plus) Kyung Hee University, Yongin-shi, Gyeonggi-do 17104, Korea
| | - Fumito Araoka
- Physicochemical Soft Matter Research Unit, RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS), Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Suk-Won Choi
- Department of Advanced Materials Engineering for Information and Electronics (BK21Plus) Kyung Hee University, Yongin-shi, Gyeonggi-do 17104, Korea
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22
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Lehmann A, Alaasar M, Poppe M, Poppe S, Prehm M, Nagaraj M, Sreenilayam SP, Panarin YP, Vij JK, Tschierske C. Stereochemical Rules Govern the Soft Self-Assembly of Achiral Compounds: Understanding the Heliconical Liquid-Crystalline Phases of Bent-Core Mesogens. Chemistry 2020; 26:4714-4733. [PMID: 31859404 PMCID: PMC7186843 DOI: 10.1002/chem.201904871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2019] [Revised: 12/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
A series of bent-shaped 4-cyanoresorcinol bisterephthalates is reported. Some of these achiral compounds spontaneously form a short-pitch heliconical lamellar liquid-crystalline phase with incommensurate 3-layer pitch and the helix axis parallel to the layer normal. It is observed at the paraelectric-(anti)ferroelectric transition, if it coincides with the transition from random to uniform tilt and with the transition from anticlinic to synclinic tilt correlation of the molecules in the layers of the developing tilted smectic phase. For compounds with long chains the heliconical phase is only field-induced, but once formed it is stable in a distinct temperature range, even after switching off the field. The presence of the helix changes the phase properties and the switching mechanism from the naturally preferred rotation around the molecular long axis, which reverses the chirality, to a precession on a cone, which retains the chirality. These observations are explained by diastereomeric relations between two coexisting modes of superstructural chirality. One is the layer chirality, resulting from the combination of tilt and polar order, and the other one is the helical twist evolving between the layers. At lower temperature the helical structure is replaced by a non-tilted and ferreoelectric switching lamellar phase, providing an alternative non-chiral way for the transition from anticlinic to synclinic tilt.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Lehmann
- Department of ChemistryMartin Luther University Halle-WittenbergKurt Mothes Str. 206120Halle (Saale)Germany
| | - Mohamed Alaasar
- Department of ChemistryMartin Luther University Halle-WittenbergKurt Mothes Str. 206120Halle (Saale)Germany
- Department of ChemistryCairo University12613GizaEgypt
| | - Marco Poppe
- Department of ChemistryMartin Luther University Halle-WittenbergKurt Mothes Str. 206120Halle (Saale)Germany
| | - Silvio Poppe
- Department of ChemistryMartin Luther University Halle-WittenbergKurt Mothes Str. 206120Halle (Saale)Germany
| | - Marko Prehm
- Department of ChemistryMartin Luther University Halle-WittenbergKurt Mothes Str. 206120Halle (Saale)Germany
| | - Mamatha Nagaraj
- Department of Electronic and Electrical EngineeringTrinity College, Dublin, The University of DublinDublin2Ireland
| | - Sithara P. Sreenilayam
- Department of Electronic and Electrical EngineeringTrinity College, Dublin, The University of DublinDublin2Ireland
| | - Yuri P. Panarin
- Department of Electronic and Electrical EngineeringTrinity College, Dublin, The University of DublinDublin2Ireland
| | - Jagdish K. Vij
- Department of Electronic and Electrical EngineeringTrinity College, Dublin, The University of DublinDublin2Ireland
| | - Carsten Tschierske
- Department of ChemistryMartin Luther University Halle-WittenbergKurt Mothes Str. 206120Halle (Saale)Germany
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23
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Bagiński M, Tupikowska M, González-Rubio G, Wójcik M, Lewandowski W. Shaping Liquid Crystals with Gold Nanoparticles: Helical Assemblies with Tunable and Hierarchical Structures Via Thin-Film Cooperative Interactions. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2020; 32:e1904581. [PMID: 31729083 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201904581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2019] [Revised: 09/26/2019] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
The availability of helical assemblies of plasmonic nanoparticles with precisely controlled and tunable structures can play a key role in the future development of chiral plasmonics and metamaterials. Here, a strategy to efficiently yield helical structures based on the cooperative interactions of liquid crystals and gold nanoparticles in thin films is developed. These nanocomposites exhibit exceptional long-range hierarchical order across length scales, which results from the growth mechanism of nanoparticle-coated twisted nanoribbons and their ability to form organized bundles. The helical assembly formation is governed by the presence of rationally functionalized nanoparticles. Importantly, the thickness of the achieved nanocomposites can be reversibly reconfigured owing to the polymorphic nature of the liquid crystal. The versatility of the proposed approach is demonstrated by preparing helices assembled from nanoparticles of different geometries and dimensions (spherical and rod-like). The described strategy may become an enabling technology for structuring nanoparticle assemblies with high precision and fabricating optically active materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maciej Bagiński
- Laboratory of Organic Nanomaterials and Biomolecules, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1 Street, 02-093, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Martyna Tupikowska
- Laboratory of Organic Nanomaterials and Biomolecules, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1 Street, 02-093, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Guillermo González-Rubio
- BioNanoPlasmonic Laboratory, CIC biomaGUNE, Paseo de Miramón 182, Donostia-San Sebastián, 20014, Spain
| | - Michał Wójcik
- Laboratory of Organic Nanomaterials and Biomolecules, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1 Street, 02-093, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Wiktor Lewandowski
- Laboratory of Organic Nanomaterials and Biomolecules, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1 Street, 02-093, Warsaw, Poland
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24
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Сhiral and Racemic Fields Concept for Understanding of the Homochirality Origin, Asymmetric Catalysis, Chiral Superstructure Formation from Achiral Molecules, and B-Z DNA Conformational Transition. Symmetry (Basel) 2019. [DOI: 10.3390/sym11050649] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The four most important and well-studied phenomena of mirror symmetry breaking of molecules were analyzed for the first time in terms of available common features and regularities. Mirror symmetry breaking of the primary origin of biological homochirality requires the involvement of an external chiral inductor (environmental chirality). All reviewed mirror symmetry breaking phenomena were considered from that standpoint. A concept of chiral and racemic fields was highly helpful in this analysis. A chiral gravitational field in combination with a static magnetic field (Earth’s environmental conditions) may be regarded as a hypothetical long-term chiral inductor. Experimental evidences suggest a possible effect of the environmental chiral inductor as a chiral trigger on the mirror symmetry breaking effect. Also, this effect explains a conformational transition of the right-handed double DNA helix to the left-handed double DNA helix (B-Z DNA transition) as possible DNA damage.
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25
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Murachver MT, Nemati A, Salamończyk M, Bullock C, Sabata Z, Rahmani H, Vorobiova T, Izadnegahdar A, Salili SM, Norman V, Zhu C, Hegmann T, Sprunt SN, Gleeson JT, Jakli AI. Indication of a twist-grain-boundary-twist-bend phase of flexible core bent-shape chiral dimers. SOFT MATTER 2019; 15:3283-3290. [PMID: 30931469 DOI: 10.1039/c8sm02338g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The effect of the molecular chirality of chiral additives on the nanostructure of the twist-bend nematic (NTB) liquid crystal phase with ambidextrous chirality and nanoscale pitch due to spontaneous symmetry breaking is studied. It is found that the ambidextrous nanoscale pitch of the NTB phase increases by 50% due to 3% chiral additive, and the chiral transfer among the biphenyl groups disappears in the NTB* phase. Most significantly, a twist-grain boundary (TGB) type phase is found at c > 1.5 wt% chiral additive concentrations below the usual N* phase and above the non-CD active NTB* phase. In such a TGB type phase, the adjacent blocks of pseudo-layers of the nanoscale pitch rotate across the grain boundaries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew T Murachver
- Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program & Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA.
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26
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Alaasar M, Prehm M, Belau S, Sebastián N, Kurachkina M, Eremin A, Chen C, Liu F, Tschierske C. Polar Order, Mirror Symmetry Breaking, and Photoswitching of Chirality and Polarity in Functional Bent‐Core Mesogens. Chemistry 2019; 25:6362-6377. [DOI: 10.1002/chem.201806180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2018] [Revised: 01/21/2019] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Mohamed Alaasar
- Institute of ChemistryMartin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg Kurt Mothes Str. 2 06120 Halle (Saale) Germany
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of ScienceCairo University Giza Egypt
| | - Marko Prehm
- Institute of ChemistryMartin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg Kurt Mothes Str. 2 06120 Halle (Saale) Germany
| | - Sebastian Belau
- Department of Nonlinear Phenomena, Institute of PhysicsOtto von Guericke University Magdeburg Magdeburg Germany
| | - Nerea Sebastián
- Department of Nonlinear Phenomena, Institute of PhysicsOtto von Guericke University Magdeburg Magdeburg Germany
| | - Marharyta Kurachkina
- Department of Nonlinear Phenomena, Institute of PhysicsOtto von Guericke University Magdeburg Magdeburg Germany
| | - Alexey Eremin
- Department of Nonlinear Phenomena, Institute of PhysicsOtto von Guericke University Magdeburg Magdeburg Germany
| | - Changlong Chen
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of MaterialsXi'an Jiaotong University Xi'an 710049 P. R. China
| | - Feng Liu
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of MaterialsXi'an Jiaotong University Xi'an 710049 P. R. China
| | - Carsten Tschierske
- Institute of ChemistryMartin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg Kurt Mothes Str. 2 06120 Halle (Saale) Germany
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27
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Zhang C, Gao M, Ribeiro de Almeida RR, Weissflog W, Lavrentovich OD, Jákli A. Polarization-Modulated Bent-Core Liquid Crystal Thin Films without Layer Undulation. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2019; 122:137801. [PMID: 31012615 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.122.137801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Spatial confinement is known to affect molecular organizations of soft matter. We present an important manifestation of this statement for thin films of bent-core smectic liquid crystals. Prior freeze-fracture transmission electron microscopy (FFTEM) studies carried out on nitro-substituted bent-core mesogens (n-OPIMB-NO_{2}) revealed an undulated smectic layer structure with an undulation periodicity of ∼8 nm. We report cryogenic TEM measurements on ∼100 nm thick 8-OPIMB-NO_{2} films. In contrast to FFTEM results, our studies show only density modulation with periodicity b=16.2 nm, and no smectic layer undulation. We show that the discrepancy between the FFTEM and cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) results can be attributed to the different sample thicknesses used in the experiments. FFTEM monitors cracked surfaces of a relatively thick (5-10 μm) frozen sample, whereas cryo-TEM visualizes the volume of a thin (0.1 μm) film that was quenched from its partially fluid phase. These results have importance in possible photovoltaics and organic electronics applications where submicron thin films are used.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cuiyu Zhang
- Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program and Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA
| | - Min Gao
- Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program and Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA
| | - R R Ribeiro de Almeida
- Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program and Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA
- Department of Physics, Federal University of Technology, Apucarana, PR 86812-460, Brazil
| | - Wolfgang Weissflog
- Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Department of Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, von-Danckelmann-Platz 4, 06120 Halle, Germany
| | - Oleg D Lavrentovich
- Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program and Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA
- Department of Physics, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA
| | - Antal Jákli
- Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program and Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA
- Department of Physics, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA
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28
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Shi Y, Sun Z, Chen R, Zhu C, Shoemaker RK, Tsai E, Walba DM, Glaser MA, Maclennan JE, Chen D, Clark NA. Effect of Conformational Chirality on Optical Activity Observed in a Smectic of Achiral, Bent-Core Molecules. J Phys Chem B 2017; 121:6944-6950. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.7b04033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yue Shi
- State
Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems, Zhejiang University, Zheda Road No. 38, Hangzhou, 310027, China
- Department
of Physics and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0390, United States
| | - Zeyong Sun
- State
Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems, Zhejiang University, Zheda Road No. 38, Hangzhou, 310027, China
- Institute
of Process Equipment, College of Energy Engineering, Zhejiang University, Zheda Road No. 38, Hangzhou, 310027, China
| | - Ran Chen
- State
Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems, Zhejiang University, Zheda Road No. 38, Hangzhou, 310027, China
- Institute
of Process Equipment, College of Energy Engineering, Zhejiang University, Zheda Road No. 38, Hangzhou, 310027, China
| | - Chenhui Zhu
- Department
of Physics and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0390, United States
| | - Richard K. Shoemaker
- Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0215, United States
| | - Ethan Tsai
- Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0215, United States
- Department
of Chemistry, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Denver, Colorado 80217, United States
| | - David M. Walba
- Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0215, United States
| | - Matthew A. Glaser
- Department
of Physics and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0390, United States
| | - Joseph E. Maclennan
- Department
of Physics and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0390, United States
| | - Dong Chen
- State
Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems, Zhejiang University, Zheda Road No. 38, Hangzhou, 310027, China
- Department
of Physics and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0390, United States
- Institute
of Process Equipment, College of Energy Engineering, Zhejiang University, Zheda Road No. 38, Hangzhou, 310027, China
| | - Noel A. Clark
- Department
of Physics and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0390, United States
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29
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Le KV, Takezoe H, Araoka F. Chiral Superstructure Mesophases of Achiral Bent-Shaped Molecules - Hierarchical Chirality Amplification and Physical Properties. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2017; 29:1602737. [PMID: 27966798 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201602737] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2016] [Revised: 08/30/2016] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Chiral mesophases in achiral bent-shaped molecules have attracted particular attention since their discovery in the middle 1990s, not only because of their homochirality and polarity, but also due to their unique physical/physicochemical properties. Here, the most intriguing results in the studies of such symmetry-broken states, mainly helical-nanofilament (HNF) and dark-conglomerate (DC) phases, are reviewed. Firstly, basic information on the typical appearance and optical activity in these phases is introduced. In the following section, the formation of mesoscopic chiral superstructures in the HNF and DC phases is discussed in terms of hierarchical chirality. Nanoscale phase segregation in mixture systems and gelation ability in the HNF phase are also described. In addition, some other related chiral phases of bent-shaped molecules are shown. Recent attempts to control such mesoscopic chiral structure and the alignment/confinement of HNFs are also discussed, along with several examples of their fascinating advanced physical properties, i.e. huge enhancement of circular dichroism, electro- and photo-tunable optical activities, chirality-induced nonlinear optics (second-harmonic-generation circular difference and electrogyration effect), enhanced hydrophobicity through the dual-scale surface morphological modulation, and photoconductivity in the HNF/fullerene binary system. Future prospects from basic science and application viewpoints are also indicated in the concluding section.
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Affiliation(s)
- Khoa V Le
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Tokyo University of Science, 1-3 Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 162-8601, Japan
- RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama, 351-0198, Japan
| | - Hideo Takezoe
- Toyota Physical and Chemical Research Institute, 41-1 Yokomichi, Nagakute, Aichi, 480-1192, Japan
| | - Fumito Araoka
- RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama, 351-0198, Japan
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30
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Kim H, Ryu SH, Tuchband M, Shin TJ, Korblova E, Walba DM, Clark NA, Yoon DK. Structural transitions and guest/host complexing of liquid crystal helical nanofilaments induced by nanoconfinement. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2017; 3:e1602102. [PMID: 28246642 PMCID: PMC5302869 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1602102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2016] [Accepted: 12/21/2016] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
A lamellar liquid crystal (LC) phase of certain bent-core mesogenic molecules can be grown in a manner that generates a single chiral helical nanofilament in each of the cylindrical nanopores of an anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane. By introducing guest molecules into the resulting composite chiral nanochannels, we explore the structures and functionality of the ordered guest/host LC complex, verifying the smectic-like positional order of the fluidic nematic LC phase, which is obtained by the combination of the LC organization and the nanoporous AAO superstructure. The guest nematic LC 4'-n-pentyl-4-cyanobiphenyl is found to form a distinctive fluid layered ordered LC complex at the nanofilament/guest interface with the host 1,3-phenylene bis[4-(4-nonyloxyphenyliminomethyl)benzoate], where this interface contacts the AAO cylinder wall. Filament growth form is strongly influenced by mixture parameters and pore dimensions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanim Kim
- Graduate School of Nanoscience and Technology, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Seong Ho Ryu
- Graduate School of Nanoscience and Technology, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Michael Tuchband
- Department of Physics and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
| | - Tae Joo Shin
- Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) Central Research Facilities & School of Natural Science, UNIST, Ulsan 689-798, Republic of Korea
| | - Eva Korblova
- Department of Chemistry and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
| | - David M. Walba
- Department of Chemistry and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
| | - Noel A. Clark
- Department of Physics and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
| | - Dong Ki Yoon
- Graduate School of Nanoscience and Technology, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
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31
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Wang WZ, Gao C, Zhang Q, Ye XH, Qu DH. Supramolecular Helical Nanofibers Formed by Achiral Monomers and Their Reversible Sol-Gel Transition. Chem Asian J 2017; 12:410-414. [PMID: 28098435 DOI: 10.1002/asia.201601733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2016] [Revised: 01/14/2017] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Well-defined supramolecular helical nanofibers have been constructed by a rationally designed achiral monomer in aqueous solution based on the 1:2 host-guest combination between cucurbit[8]uril and a 4,4'-bipyridin-1-ium chloride (BPY+ ) salt derivative. The formed nanostructures could be adjusted by varying the concentration of monomer from helical nanofibers to a pH-responsive hydrogel.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wen-Zhi Wang
- Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Institute of Fine Chemicals, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Meilong Road No. 130, Shanghai, 200237, China
| | - Chuan Gao
- Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Institute of Fine Chemicals, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Meilong Road No. 130, Shanghai, 200237, China
| | - Qi Zhang
- Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Institute of Fine Chemicals, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Meilong Road No. 130, Shanghai, 200237, China
| | - Xu-Hao Ye
- Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Institute of Fine Chemicals, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Meilong Road No. 130, Shanghai, 200237, China
| | - Da-Hui Qu
- Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Institute of Fine Chemicals, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Meilong Road No. 130, Shanghai, 200237, China
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32
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory M. Grason
- Department of Polymer Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA
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33
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Padmini V, Babu PN, Nair GG, Rao DSS, Yelamaggad CV. Optically Biaxial, Re-entrant and Frustrated Mesophases in Chiral, Non-symmetric Liquid Crystal Dimers and Binary Mixtures. Chem Asian J 2016; 11:2897-2910. [DOI: 10.1002/asia.201600918] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2016] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Vediappen Padmini
- Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences; P. B. No. 1329, Prof. U. R. Rao Road, Jalahalli Bengaluru 560013 India
- Department of Organic Chemistry; School of Chemistry, Madurai Kamaraj University; Madurai 625021, Tamil Nadu India
| | - Palakurthy Nani Babu
- Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences; P. B. No. 1329, Prof. U. R. Rao Road, Jalahalli Bengaluru 560013 India
| | - Geetha G. Nair
- Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences; P. B. No. 1329, Prof. U. R. Rao Road, Jalahalli Bengaluru 560013 India
| | - D. S. Shankar Rao
- Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences; P. B. No. 1329, Prof. U. R. Rao Road, Jalahalli Bengaluru 560013 India
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34
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Li L, Salamonczyk M, Jákli A, Hegmann T. A Dual Modulated Homochiral Helical Nanofilament Phase with Local Columnar Ordering Formed by Bent Core Liquid Crystals: Effects of Molecular Chirality. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2016; 12:3944-3955. [PMID: 27334846 DOI: 10.1002/smll.201600882] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2016] [Revised: 05/13/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Helical nanofilament (HNF) phases form as a result of an intralayer mismatch between top and bottom molecular halves in bent-core liquid crystals (BC-LCs) that is relieved by local saddle-splay geometry. HNFs are immensely attractive for photovoltaic and chiral separation applications and as templates for the chiral spatial assembly of guest molecules. Here, the synthesis and characterization of two unichiral BC-LCs and one racemic mixture with tris-biphenyl-diester cores featuring chiral (R,R) and (S,S) or racemic 2-octyloxy aliphatic side chains are presented. In comparison to the achiral compound with linear side chains forming an intralayer modulated HNF phase (HNFmod ), synchrotron small angle X-ray diffraction indicates that the unichiral derivatives form a dual modulated HNF phase with intra- as well as interlayer modulations (HNFmod2 ) suggesting a columnar local structure of the nanofilaments. Transmission electron microscopy and circular dichroism spectropolarimetry confirm that the unichiral materials exclusively form homochiral HNFs with a twist sense-matching secondary twist. A contact preparation provides the first example of two identical chiral liquid crystal phases only differing in their handedness that do not mix and form an achiral liquid crystal phase with an entirely different structure in the contact zone.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lin Li
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44242-0001, USA
| | - Miroslaw Salamonczyk
- Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program, Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44242-0001, USA
| | - Antal Jákli
- Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program, Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44242-0001, USA
| | - Torsten Hegmann
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44242-0001, USA
- Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program, Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44242-0001, USA
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35
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Alaasar M, Prehm M, Tschierske C. Helical Nano-crystallite (HNC) Phases: Chirality Synchronization of Achiral Bent-Core Mesogens in a New Type of Dark Conglomerates. Chemistry 2016; 22:6583-97. [DOI: 10.1002/chem.201505016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2015] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mohamed Alaasar
- Institute of Chemistry; Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg; Kurt Mothes Str. 2 06120 Halle (Saale) Germany), Fax
- Department of Chemistry; Faculty of Science; Cairo University; Giza Egypt
| | - Marko Prehm
- Institute of Chemistry; Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg; Kurt Mothes Str. 2 06120 Halle (Saale) Germany), Fax
| | - Carsten Tschierske
- Institute of Chemistry; Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg; Kurt Mothes Str. 2 06120 Halle (Saale) Germany), Fax
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36
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Alaasar M, Prehm M, Tschierske C. Mirror symmetry breaking in fluorinated bent-core mesogens. RSC Adv 2016. [DOI: 10.1039/c6ra18482k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
New fluorinated bent-core liquid crystals exhibiting helical nano-crystallite phases composed of chiral domains with opposite handedness and polar smcetic phases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohamed Alaasar
- Institute of Chemistry
- Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
- D-06120 Halle (Saale)
- Germany
- Department of Chemistry
| | - Marko Prehm
- Institute of Chemistry
- Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
- D-06120 Halle (Saale)
- Germany
| | - Carsten Tschierske
- Institute of Chemistry
- Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
- D-06120 Halle (Saale)
- Germany
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37
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Timofeev IV, Gunyakov VA, Sutormin VS, Myslivets SA, Arkhipkin VG, Vetrov SY, Lee W, Zyryanov VY. Geometric phase and o-mode blueshift in a chiral anisotropic medium inside a Fabry-Pérot cavity. PHYSICAL REVIEW. E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS 2015; 92:052504. [PMID: 26651714 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.92.052504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Anomalous spectral shift of transmission peaks is observed in a Fabry-Pérot cavity filled with a chiral anisotropic medium. The effective refractive index value resides out of the interval between the ordinary and the extraordinary refractive indices. The spectral shift is explained by contribution of a geometric phase. The problem is solved analytically using the approximate Jones matrix method, numerically using the accurate Berreman method, and geometrically using the generalized Mauguin-Poincaré rolling cone method. The o-mode blueshift is measured for a 4-methoxybenzylidene-4'-n-butylaniline twisted-nematic layer inside the Fabry-Pérot cavity. The twist is electrically induced due to the homeoplanar-twisted configuration transition in an ionic-surfactant-doped liquid crystal layer. Experimental evidence confirms the validity of the theoretical model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivan V Timofeev
- Kirensky Institute of Physics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia
- Laboratory for Nonlinear Optics and Spectroscopy, Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk 660041, Russia
| | - Vladimir A Gunyakov
- Kirensky Institute of Physics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia
| | - Vitaly S Sutormin
- Kirensky Institute of Physics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia
| | - Sergey A Myslivets
- Kirensky Institute of Physics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia
- Institute of Engineering Physics and Radio Electronics, Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk 660041, Russia
| | - Vasily G Arkhipkin
- Kirensky Institute of Physics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia
- Laboratory for Nonlinear Optics and Spectroscopy, Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk 660041, Russia
| | - Stepan Ya Vetrov
- Kirensky Institute of Physics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia
- Institute of Engineering Physics and Radio Electronics, Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk 660041, Russia
| | - Wei Lee
- Institute of Imaging and Biomedical Photonics, College of Photonics, National Chiao Tung University, Guiren District, Tainan 71150, Taiwan
| | - Victor Ya Zyryanov
- Kirensky Institute of Physics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia
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38
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Jung WB, Jeong HS, Jeon HJ, Kim YH, Hwang JY, Kim JH, Jung HT. Polymer-Layer-Free Alignment for Fast Switching Nematic Liquid Crystals by Multifunctional Nanostructured Substrate. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2015; 27:6760-6766. [PMID: 26418973 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201502641] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2015] [Revised: 07/20/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
A novel polymer-layer-free system for liquid-crystal alignment is demonstrated by various shaped indium tin oxide (ITO) patterns. Liquid crystals are aligned along the ITO line pattern and secondary sputtering lithography can change the shape of the ITO line pattern. Different shapes can control the direction and size of the pretilt angle. This effect eliminates defects and reduces the response time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Woo-Bin Jung
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (BK-21 plus), National Laboratory for Organic Opto-Electronic Materials/Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 305-701, South Korea
| | - Hyeon Su Jeong
- Soft Innovative Materials Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Eunha-ri San 101, Bongdong-eup, Wanju-gun, Jeollabuk-do, 565-905, South Korea
| | - Hwan-Jin Jeon
- Department ent of Nano-structured Materials Research, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 305-701, South Korea
| | - Yun Ho Kim
- Division of Advanced Materials, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), 141 Gajeongro, Yuseong, Daejeon, 305-600, South Korea
| | - Jeong Yeon Hwang
- Beam Engineering for Advanced Measurements Co, 809 South Orlando Ave, Suite I, Winter Park, FL, 32789, USA
- Department of Electronic Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, 133-791, South Korea
| | - Jae-Hoon Kim
- Department of Electronic Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, 133-791, South Korea
| | - Hee-Tae Jung
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (BK-21 plus), National Laboratory for Organic Opto-Electronic Materials/Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 305-701, South Korea
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39
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Zhang C, Grubb AM, Seed AJ, Sampson P, Jákli A, Lavrentovich OD. Nanostructure of Edge Dislocations in a Smectic-C* Liquid Crystal. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2015; 115:087801. [PMID: 26340209 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.115.087801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
We report on the first direct nanoscale imaging of elementary edge dislocations in a thermotropic smectic-C* liquid crystal with the Burgers vector equal to one smectic layer spacing d. We find two different types of dislocation profiles. In the dislocation of type A, the layers deformations lack mirror symmetry with respect to the plane perpendicular to the Burgers vector; the dislocation core size is on the order of d. In the dislocation of type S, the core is strongly anisotropic, extending along the Burgers vector over distances much larger (by a factor of 4) than d. The difference is attributed to a different orientation of the molecular tilt plane with respect to the dislocation's axis; the asymmetric layers distortions are observed when the molecular tilt plane is perpendicular to the axis and the split S core is observed when the molecules are tilted along the line.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Zhang
- Liquid Crystal Institutes, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA
| | - A M Grubb
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA
| | - A J Seed
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA
| | - P Sampson
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA
| | - A Jákli
- Liquid Crystal Institutes, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA
| | - O D Lavrentovich
- Liquid Crystal Institutes, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA
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40
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Prabhu R, Yelamaggad CV. Structure–Property Correlations in Cyanobiphenyl-Based Dimer-Like Mesogens. J Phys Chem B 2015; 119:11935-52. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.5b06073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rashmi Prabhu
- Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences, Prof.
U. R. Rao Road, Post Box No. 1329, Jalahalli,
Bengaluru 560013, India
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41
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Lee S, Kim H, Tsai E, Richardson JM, Korblova E, Walba DM, Clark NA, Lee SB, Yoon DK. Multidimensional Helical Nanostructures in Multiscale Nanochannels. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2015; 31:8156-8161. [PMID: 26135637 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.5b01620] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
We have investigated the various morphological changes of helical nanofilament (HNF; B4) phases in multiscale nanochannels made of porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) film. Single or multihelical structures could be manipulated depending on the AAO pore size and the higher-temperature phase of each molecule. Furthermore, the nanostructures of HNFs affected by the chemical affinity between the molecule and surface were drastically controlled in surface-modified nanochannels. These well-controlled hierarchical helical structures that have multidimensions can be a promising tool for the manipulation of chiral pores or the nonlinear optical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sunhee Lee
- †Graduate School of Nanoscience and Technology and KINC, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea
| | - Hanim Kim
- †Graduate School of Nanoscience and Technology and KINC, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea
| | - Ethan Tsai
- ‡Department of Chemistry, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Denver, Colorado 80217, United States
| | - Jacqueline M Richardson
- §Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, United States
| | - Eva Korblova
- §Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, United States
| | - David M Walba
- §Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, United States
| | - Noel A Clark
- ∥Department of Physics and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, United States
| | - Sang Bok Lee
- †Graduate School of Nanoscience and Technology and KINC, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea
- ⊥Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
| | - Dong Ki Yoon
- †Graduate School of Nanoscience and Technology and KINC, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea
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42
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Affiliation(s)
- Minghua Liu
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science (BNLMS), CAS Key Laboratory of Colloid, Interface and Chemical Thermodynamics, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China
| | - Li Zhang
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science (BNLMS), CAS Key Laboratory of Colloid, Interface and Chemical Thermodynamics, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China
| | - Tianyu Wang
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science (BNLMS), CAS Key Laboratory of Colloid, Interface and Chemical Thermodynamics, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China
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43
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Zhu C, Wang C, Young A, Liu F, Gunkel I, Chen D, Walba D, Maclennan J, Clark N, Hexemer A. Probing and controlling liquid crystal helical nanofilaments. NANO LETTERS 2015; 15:3420-3424. [PMID: 25867200 DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b00760] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
We report the first in situ measurement of the helical pitch of the helical nanofilament B4 phase of bent-core liquid crystals using linearly polarized, resonant soft X-ray scattering at the carbon K-edge. A strong, anisotropic scattering peak corresponding to the half-pitch of the twisted smectic layer structure was observed. The equilibrium helical half-pitch of NOBOW is found to be 120 nm, essentially independent of temperature. However, the helical pitch can be tuned by mixing guest organic molecules with the bent-core host, followed by thermal annealing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenhui Zhu
- †Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Cheng Wang
- †Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Anthony Young
- †Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Feng Liu
- ‡Materials Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Ilja Gunkel
- †Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Dong Chen
- §Department of Physics and Liquid Crystal Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, United States
| | - David Walba
- ∥Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Liquid Crystal Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, United States
| | - Joseph Maclennan
- §Department of Physics and Liquid Crystal Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, United States
| | - Noel Clark
- §Department of Physics and Liquid Crystal Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, United States
| | - Alexander Hexemer
- †Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
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44
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Nagaraj M, Jones JC, Panov VP, Liu H, Portale G, Bras W, Gleeson HF. Understanding the unusual reorganization of the nanostructure of a dark conglomerate phase. PHYSICAL REVIEW. E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS 2015; 91:042504. [PMID: 25974513 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.91.042504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
The dark conglomerate (DC) phase exhibited by a bent-core liquid crystal shows remarkable properties including an electric-field tunable chiral domain structure and a large (0.045) reduction of refractive index, while maintaining an optically dark texture when observed under crossed polarizers. A detailed investigation of the system is presented, leading to a model that is fully consistent with the experimental observations. It reports the observation of two distinct regimes in the DC phase: a higher temperature regime in which the periodicity measured by small angle x-ray scattering decreases slightly (0.5%) and a lower temperature regime where it increases considerably (16%). Also, the paper discusses the unusual electric-field-induced transformations observed in both the regimes. These changes have threshold fields that are both temperature and frequency dependent, though the phenomena are observed irrespective of device thickness, geometry, and the alignment layer. The electro-optic behavior in the DC phase corresponds to a number of structural changes leading to unusual changes in physical properties including a small (1%) increase in periodicity and a doubling of the average dielectric permittivity. We propose a model of the DC phase where in the ground state the nanostructure of the phase exhibits an anticlinic antiferroelectric organization. Under an electric field, it undergoes a molecular rearrangement without any gross structural changes leading to an anticlinic ferroelectric order while keeping the overall sponge-like structure of the DC phase intact.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Nagaraj
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom
| | - J C Jones
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom
| | - V P Panov
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom
| | - H Liu
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom
| | - G Portale
- DUBBLE Beamline, ESRF, Grenoble 38043, France
| | - W Bras
- DUBBLE Beamline, ESRF, Grenoble 38043, France
| | - H F Gleeson
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom
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45
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Alaasar M, Prehm M, Brautzsch M, Tschierske C. Dark conglomerate phases of azobenzene derived bent-core mesogens - relationships between the molecular structure and mirror symmetry breaking in soft matter. SOFT MATTER 2014; 10:7285-7296. [PMID: 25095778 DOI: 10.1039/c4sm01255k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
New 4-bromoresorcinol based bent-core molecules with peripheral fluoro substituted azobenzene wings have been synthesized and the liquid crystalline self-assembly was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), optical polarizing microscopy (POM), electro-optic studies and X-ray diffraction (XRD). A new type of optically isotropic mesophase composed of chiral domains with opposite handedness (dark conglomerate phases, DC phases) is observed, which for some homologues with medium alkyl chain length is stable down to ambient temperature. It is proposed that these DC phases are formed by helical twisted nano-domains of limited size and composed of the crystallized aromatic cores which are separated by the disordered alkyl chains. This structure is distinct from the previously known soft helical nano-filament phases (HNF phases, B4 phases) formed by extended crystalline nano-filaments and also distinct from the fluid sponge phases composed of deformed fluid layers. Comparison with related bent-core molecules having H, F, Cl, I, CH3 and CN groups in the 4-position at the resorcinol core, either with or without additional peripheral fluorines, provided information about the effects of these substituents on the tendency to form DC phases. Based on these relationships and by comparison with the minimum energy conformations obtained by DFT calculations a hypothesis is provided for the formation of DC phases depending on the molecular structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohamed Alaasar
- Institute of Chemistry, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Kurt Mothes Str. 2, D-06120 Halle (Saale), Germany.
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