Issue 5, 2023

First azulene liquid crystal with de Vries behavior and a SmA re-entrant phase

Abstract

De Vries-like materials show small layer shrinkages at the SmA to SmC transition and can therefore be applied in surface-stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal displays. Here we report the synthesis and characterization of a new class of de Vries mesogens with a simple 2-phenylazulene-1-carbonitrile-based core. These materials exhibit an exceptionally small lower threshold for the maximum layer shrinkage of only 0.16%. One of the investigated compounds shows an orthogonal SmA re-entrance phase below the tilted SmC phase. This behavior has not been observed for achiral calamitic molecules before. The rationalization of the anomalous phase behavior might lead to a new design principle for liquid crystalline compounds showing re-entrant phases and de Vries behavior.

Graphical abstract: First azulene liquid crystal with de Vries behavior and a SmA re-entrant phase

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
24 noy 2022
Accepted
05 yan 2023
First published
26 yan 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Mater. Adv., 2023,4, 1306-1313

First azulene liquid crystal with de Vries behavior and a SmA re-entrant phase

F. Schulz, B. Wank, P. Nacke, W. Frey and S. Laschat, Mater. Adv., 2023, 4, 1306 DOI: 10.1039/D2MA01055K

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