Smectic C Self‐Assembly in Mesogen‐Free Liquid Crystalline Chiral Polyethers with Sulfonylated Methyl‐Branched Side Chains

Bohannon, Caleb A.; Kwok, Man‐Hin; Huang, Jiahao; Rui, Guanchun; Li, Ruipeng; Zhu, Lei; Zhao, Bin

doi:10.1002/marc.202200501

Title: Smectic C Self‐Assembly in Mesogen‐Free Liquid Crystalline Chiral Polyethers with Sulfonylated Methyl‐Branched Side Chains

Journal Article · 01 August 2022 · Macromolecular Rapid Communications

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/marc.202200501 · OSTI ID:1879582

Bohannon, Caleb A. ^[1]; Kwok, Man‐Hin ^[2]; Huang, Jiahao ^[2]; Rui, Guanchun ^[2]; Li, Ruipeng ^[3];

^[2];

^[1]

Department of Chemistry University of Tennessee Knoxville TN 37996 USA
Depcartment of Macromolecular Science and Engineering Case Western Reserve University Cleveland OH 44106‐7202 USA
National Synchrotron Light Source II Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton NY 11973 USA

Abstract To realize advanced electrical applications for ferroelectric liquid crystalline polymers, high spontaneous polarization ( P _s ) is highly desired. However, current ferroelectric liquid crystalline polymers usually exhibit a low P _s . In this work, mesogen‐free, chiral polyethers containing sulfonylated methyl‐branched alkyl side chains with a (CH ₂ ) ₃ O spacer between the sulfonyl and the branched alkyl groups are designed and synthesized. In contrast to the linear n ‐alkyl side chains, the methyl‐branched alkyl side chains induce chain tilting in the smectic layers. When double chirality exists in both the main chain and the side chains, a crystalline structure is observed after mechanical stretching. Intriguingly, when single chirality exists in either the backbone or the side chains, a liquid crystalline smectic C phase is obtained. The electric displacement–electric field study, however, does not show typical ferroelectric switching, although the dielectric constants are relatively high for these liquid crystalline polymers. This is likely because the dipole–dipole interactions among neighboring sulfonyl groups along the main chain are so strong that the ferroelectric switching is hindered in the samples. For the future work, it is desired to weaken the dipole–dipole interaction to achieve ferroelectricity in these mesogen‐free liquid crystalline polymers.

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Research Organization:: Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0012704; SC0018075

OSTI ID:: 1879582

Report Number(s):: BNL-224870-2023-JAAM; 2200501

Journal Information:: Macromolecular Rapid Communications, Journal Name: Macromolecular Rapid Communications Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 44; ISSN 1022-1336

Publisher:: Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: Germany

Language:: English

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Title: Smectic C Self‐Assembly in Mesogen‐Free Liquid Crystalline Chiral Polyethers with Sulfonylated Methyl‐Branched Side Chains

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