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Title: An unusual type of polymorphism in a liquid crystal

Abstract

Polymorphism is a remarkable concept in chemistry, materials science, computer science, and biology. Whether it is the ability of a material to exist in two or more crystal structures, a single interface connecting to two different entities, or alternative phenotypes of an organism, polymorphism determines function and properties. In materials science, polymorphism can be found in an impressively wide range of materials, including crystalline materials, minerals, metals, alloys, and polymers. Here in this paper we report on polymorphism in a liquid crystal. A bent-core liquid crystal with a single chiral side chain forms two structurally and morphologically significantly different liquid crystal phases solely depending on the cooling rate from the isotropic liquid state. On slow cooling, the thermodynamically more stable oblique columnar phase forms, and on rapid cooling, a not heretofore reported helical microfilament phase. Since structure determines function and properties, the structural color for these phases also differs.

Authors:
 [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3];  [2];  [3]; ORCiD logo [4]
  1. Kent State Univ., Kent, OH (United States). Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry
  2. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)
  3. Kent State Univ., Kent, OH (United States). Liquid Crystal Inst., Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program
  4. Kent State Univ., Kent, OH (United States). Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Kent State Univ., Kent, OH (United States). Liquid Crystal Inst., Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1433130
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-05CH11231
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Nature Communications
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 9; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing Group
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE

Citation Formats

Li, Lin, Salamonczyk, Miroslaw, Shadpour, Sasan, Zhu, Chenhui, Jakli, Antal, and Hegmann, Torsten. An unusual type of polymorphism in a liquid crystal. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1038/s41467-018-03160-9.
Li, Lin, Salamonczyk, Miroslaw, Shadpour, Sasan, Zhu, Chenhui, Jakli, Antal, & Hegmann, Torsten. An unusual type of polymorphism in a liquid crystal. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03160-9
Li, Lin, Salamonczyk, Miroslaw, Shadpour, Sasan, Zhu, Chenhui, Jakli, Antal, and Hegmann, Torsten. 2018. "An unusual type of polymorphism in a liquid crystal". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03160-9. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1433130.
@article{osti_1433130,
title = {An unusual type of polymorphism in a liquid crystal},
author = {Li, Lin and Salamonczyk, Miroslaw and Shadpour, Sasan and Zhu, Chenhui and Jakli, Antal and Hegmann, Torsten},
abstractNote = {Polymorphism is a remarkable concept in chemistry, materials science, computer science, and biology. Whether it is the ability of a material to exist in two or more crystal structures, a single interface connecting to two different entities, or alternative phenotypes of an organism, polymorphism determines function and properties. In materials science, polymorphism can be found in an impressively wide range of materials, including crystalline materials, minerals, metals, alloys, and polymers. Here in this paper we report on polymorphism in a liquid crystal. A bent-core liquid crystal with a single chiral side chain forms two structurally and morphologically significantly different liquid crystal phases solely depending on the cooling rate from the isotropic liquid state. On slow cooling, the thermodynamically more stable oblique columnar phase forms, and on rapid cooling, a not heretofore reported helical microfilament phase. Since structure determines function and properties, the structural color for these phases also differs.},
doi = {10.1038/s41467-018-03160-9},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1433130}, journal = {Nature Communications},
issn = {2041-1723},
number = 1,
volume = 9,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Feb 19 00:00:00 EST 2018},
month = {Mon Feb 19 00:00:00 EST 2018}
}

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Free Publicly Available Full Text
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Cited by: 31 works
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Works referenced in this record:

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A Modulated Helical Nanofilament Phase
journal, April 2013


The use of circular dichroism spectroscopy for studying the chiral molecular self-assembly: An overview
journal, January 2008


Palladium-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling Reactions of Organoboron Compounds
journal, November 1995


Chiral Memory on Transition between the B2 and B4 Phases in an Achiral Banana-Shaped Molecular System
journal, September 2004


Vitrification of a monatomic metallic liquid
journal, August 2007


Abnormal correlation between phase transformation and cooling rate for pure metals
journal, March 2016


Airflow-aligned helical nanofilament (B4) phase in topographic confinement
journal, July 2016


A piezoelectric thermoplastic elastomer containing a bent-core liquid crystal
journal, January 2013


Stable field-induced ferrielectric liquid crystal phases in devices
journal, April 2009


Organization of the polarization splay modulated smectic liquid crystal phase by topographic confinement
journal, November 2010


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journal, November 1999


Pseudolayered structure of the columnar B1 phase of bent-core liquid crystals
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Works referencing / citing this record:

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Supramolecular Chiral Nanoarchitectonics
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Nanoconfinement of the Low‐Temperature Dark Conglomerate: Structural Control from Focal Conics to Helical Nanofilaments
journal, May 2019


Tuning the crystal morphology and catalytic behavior of graphene-templated energetic bis-tetrazole copper coordination polymers
journal, March 2019


Heliconical-layered nanocylinders (HLNCs) – hierarchical self-assembly in a unique B4 phase liquid crystal morphology
journal, January 2019


A stabilized lamellar liquid crystalline phase with aggregation-induced emission features based on pyrrolopyrrole derivatives
journal, January 2019


Organic glasses with tunable liquid-crystalline order through kinetic arrest of end-over-end rotation: the case of saperconazole
journal, January 2020


Controlling the formation of heliconical smectic phases by molecular design of achiral bent-core molecules
journal, January 2020