Richard J.
Mandle
ab
aSchool of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, UK LS2 9JT
bSchool of Chemistry, University of Leeds, UK LS2 9HT. E-mail: r.mandle@leeds.ac.uk
First published on 28th June 2022
Given the widespread adoption of display technology based on nematic liquid crystals, the discovery of new nematic phases at thermodynamic equilibrium, although extremely rare, generates much excitement. The remarkable discovery polar order and giant ferroelectric polarisation in a nematic fluid is a watershed moment in soft matter research, and is one of the most important discoveries in the 150 year history of liquid crystals. After a brief introduction to this emerging field, we present the current state-of-the art in terms of understanding the molecular origins of this phase, before exploring how molecular structure underpins the incidence of this phase, as well as exploring future directions.
Fig. 1 Nematic polymorphism: (a) molecular structures of RM734 and DIO, with transition temperatures (°C),5,6 and polar ellipsoid representation used elsewhere in this figure. Programmatically generated cartoon depictions of ellipsoids forming a conventional apolar nematic phase (b) and polar nematic phase (c), with order parameters (〈P2〉) of 0.60 and 0.67, respectively. Cartoon depictions of the precession of the nematic director in the helical chiral nematic phase (d) and heliconical twist-bend nematic phase (e). |
A nematic phases with polar order (Fig. 1(b)) has recently realised experimentally, presenting an interesting counterpoint to the apolar nematics we encounter daily. In 1916 Max Born speculated that a polar (and thus ferroelectric) fluid would exist if the molecular electric dipole moments are large enough that dipole–dipole interactions between molecules are sufficient to overcome thermal fluctuations.2 The push to develop and deploy apolar nematic liquid crystals in display technology, coupled with the absence of experimental proof of the existence of polar nematic phases, meant that Born's conjecture was seemingly forgotten by experimentalists. Frank3 and Brand4 made theoretical arguments to show that, for polar nematics, spontaneous splay deformation provides a means to escape polar order.
In 2017 two materials were reported – RM7345 and DIO6 – that are now understood to have polar nematic order and are ferroelectric, over a century after Born's conjecture.7–9 This so-called ferroelectric nematic (NF) phase displays a slew of unique properties: ferroelectric properties with huge spontaneous polarisation,8,10 polar domains,10 strong non-linear optical response,11 unique electrooptic responses,12 and thermal gradient-induced circular motion of particles,13 to name a few. The remarkable properties of the NF phase, coupled with fluidity and relative ease of alignment,14 will ensure this field flourishes in the decades to come.15 Progress in understanding and exploiting the unique physics of the NF phase is reliant on the design and synthesis of new materials, an area that has undergone significant progress in the since the report of the first polar nematic materials in 2017,5,6,16 and this is the focus of this article.
For apolar nematics, the introduction of chirality causes the nematic director to rotate, giving a chiral nematic phase (N*) which has a helical superstructure (Fig. 1(d)), with the director oriented perpendicular to the helical axis. Notably, the polar analogue of the chiral nematic phase has very recently been discovered.17–21 Lastly, one further example of nematic polymorphism must be considered. In 2011 the twist-bend nematic phase was discovered, having being predicted some ten years earlier by Ivan Dozov, marking the first new nematic phase type discovered in over half a century.22–24 It has been suggested that a polar twisted model of the heliconical NTB phase, the so-called NPT model, is a better descriptor;25 we note that such an NPT phase is to the ferroelectric nematic phase what the NTB phase is to the conventional nematic.
Of all of the variants of RM230 encountered so far, RM734, which features a 2,4-dimethoxybenzoate head group, has the ‘best’ transition temperatures. A number of alternate polar groups were explored by Mandle et al.5 the 3-fluoro-4-nitrophenyl unit gives a small enhancement in TNF-N and notable reduction in TN-Iso. As will be shown later, fluorination is a viable strategy for enhancing TNF-N in this class of materials, presumably via increased dipole–dipole interactions. Other polar units, shown in Fig. 3, were found to eliminate the NF phase. Aya et al. reported a number of further variations to the RM734 core structure. Elongation of the lateral methoxy unit reduces TNF-N relative to RM734, however melting points and clearing points are also reduced.28 Imrie et al. also reported a number of RM734 derivatives with alternate lateral groups, including the (S)-2-methylbutoxy group which leads to the chiral NF phase,20 with this material also being reported independently by others.18 Again, the increased steric bulk of these lateral groups depresses TNF-N when compared to the parent material. Aya et al. synthesised materials in which the lateral unit is positioned to the central phenyl ring, all of which generate the NF phase with a modest reduction in TNF-N.28 Use of azo or n-methylamide linking units eliminates the NF phase entirely, and also the nematic phase in the case of the amide.28
As already shown for RM230 and RM734 (Fig. 2 and 3, respectively), fluorination ortho to the nitro unit gives notable increases in the onset temperature of the NF phase while also depressing the clearing point slightly.5 Jakli et al. reported a fluorinated variant of RM734 (known as RT11001, Fig. 4) in which a fluorine atom is positioned in the 3-position of the central ring.29 The increase in molecular dipole moment leads to a large increase in spontaneous polarisation, with the reported value of 6.9 μC cm−2 being the largest ever reported for a liquid crystalline system. Imrie et al.30 provided further examples of fluorinated RM734 derivatives, finding one material that exhibits a direct isotropic to NF phase transition (Fig. 4).
Fig. 2 Structural variants of RM230: transition temperatures (°C) are on cooling from the isotropic liquid.5,16,21 A green and red arrows indicate increased and decreased TNF-N relative to the parent material, respectively, while a black dash indicates the absence of the NF phase. |
Fig. 3 Structural variants of RM734 temperatures (°C) are on cooling from the isotropic liquid.5,18,20,28 A green and red arrows indicate increased and decreased TNF-N relative to the parent material, respectively, while a black dash indicates the absence of the NF phase. |
Fig. 4 Fluorinated derivatives of RM734; transition temperatures (°C) are on cooling from the isotropic liquid.5,29,30 Green and red arrows indicate increased and decreased TNF-N relative to the parent material, respectively, while a black dash indicates the absence of the NF phase. |
The material commonly known as DIO was reported virtually the same time as the RM-type materials; the combination of a 1,3-dioxane ring, carboxylate ester, and aromatic fluorination pattern gives a large longitudinal electric dipole moment. Although less well explored than the RM-type materials, a number of structural variations on this core structure are known. Increasing the molecular dipole moment by replacing the monofluorophenyl with 2,6-difluorophenyl gives a large (>50 °C) increase in the onset temperature of the NF phase; conversely, replacement with a 2-methoxyphenyl unit reduces TNF-N slightly, while replacement with an unsubstituted benzene ring eliminates the NF phase entirely.28 Replacement of the ester unit of DIO with the germinal difluoromethyl unit (and also shortening of the terminal chain from propyl to methyl) eliminates the NF phase, irrespective of the molecular structure at rings #3 and #4. In terms of their ability to generate the NF phase this suggests that the CF2O linking unit is inferior to an ester, however, as will be shown later, this unit has been utilised in ferroelectric nematic materials (Fig. 5).28
Fig. 5 Structural variants of DIO; transition temperatures (°C) are on cooling from the isotropic liquid.28,31–33 Green and red arrows indicate increased and decreased TNF-N relative to the parent material, respectively, while a black dash indicates the absence of the NF phase. |
Li et al. recently reported a significant number of new NF materials, many of which are homologous in structure with DIO with alternate polar functionalities and terminal chain lengths.33 As a general trend, for a given core structure the shorter terminal chain lengths give the highest NF onset temperature, mirroring the behaviour of the earlier RM230-like materials. The 4-cyano-2′,3,5,6′-tetrafluorobiphenyl end group results in a remarkable increase in the onset temperature of the NF phase; the onset temperature of the propyl derivative is over 100 °C higher than that of DIO, with the methyl derivative being higher still. A smaller enhancement is found for the 4-cyano-3,5-difluoro-2′-trifluoromethylbiphenyl unit, while mono or dinitrated biphenyls are found to be largely inferior to DIO.
Examination of the patent literature reveals some orthoester 2,6,9-trioxabicyclo-〈2.2.2〉-octane derivatives (conveniently prepared via the action of boron trifluoride diethyl etherate on a suitable hydroxylmethyloxetane34) which are homologous in structure to DIO, although these materials are not reported to exhibit the NF phase.31 Some pyran homologues of DIO have been reported, and while these exhibit the conventional nematic phase the NF is absent,32 as is also the case for the closely related 1,3-dioxan-5-yclobutyl and pyrrolidine homologues.35,36
This brings us to an important point. The properties of novel LC materials are routinely measured as low concentration solutions in off-the-shelf nematic hosts, rather than as pure materials. Ordinarily this is quite acceptable, however in the case of the NF phase this masks the polar order and gives only a conventional nematic phase. Therefore it seems reasonable to this author that there could exist a substantial pool of materials that exhibit the NF phase yet have not been characterised as such. Fortuitously, methods have been developed that enable rapid identification of the ferroelectric nematic via microscopy,37 and this would appear to be an attractive direction for future studies.
Fig. 6 Molecular structures and transition temperatures (°C, on cooling) for some recent novel NF materials (or additives). |
Appending a pendant acrylate unit to the structure of RM734 enabled Dai et al. to perform in situ photopolymerisation, yielding the polymeric material SP1, which exhibits both N and NF mesophases (Fig. 6(c)).40 Positioning the pendant acrylate unit on other rings or in the terminal position of the monomer gave only a conventional nematic phase. More recently, Nishikawa et al. employed a photoisomerisable azobenzene additive (using DIO as a nematic host) to demonstrate a ferroelectric nematic material in which irradiation controls the dielectric permittivities (Fig. 6(d)),41 demonstrating a photovariable capacitor which enables modulation of sound frequencies (in the range of 0.1–8.5 kHz).
Li et al. performed the precise synthesis of monodisperse 4-(2-propoxyl)benzoate materials via the use of an orthogonal tetrahydropyranyl ether and benzyl ester protecting groups, to afford the benzyl terminated Bn(n) materials and the 4-nitrophenyl terminated Nt(n) materials.42 The Bn(n) and Nt(n) materials can be considered as homologoues of the poly(oxobenzoate) type liquid crystal polymers, and also to a lesser extent RM734 and its derivatives. Remarkably, the classical nematic phase is absent for all materials, with the formation of the NF phase directly on cooling from the isotropic liquid demonstrated by both SHG and SHG-I microscopy. In the case of the Bn(n) materials, the molecular dipole moment is generated almost entirely by the complementary orientation of ester linking units, and this affords a ferroelectric nematic phase albeit with a somewhat lower TNf-Iso than the equivalent length nitro-terminated material. The discovery of the NF phase in these systems demands that other oligo/poly(oxobenzoate) materials be reinvestigated as candidate ferroelectric nematics (Table 1).
Finally, we revisit the 4-cyano-3,5-difluoro terminated derivative of RM734, which we will refer to as RM734-CN(2F). Li et al recently reported the synthesis of a large number of materials which derive from and expand upon the basic structure of RM734-CN(2F). Careful positioning of multiple fluorine atoms and/or replacement of the lateral methoxy unit with a trifluoromethyl enabled them to engineer materials which exhibit the NF phase, a remarkable achievement given that this is not displayed in the parent compound. Variations in terminal chain length for one family of laterally trifluoromethylated materials show the same trend observed in other materials, namely that the stability of the NF phase decreases as the aliphatic chain length is increased (Fig. 7).33
Fig. 7 Structural variants of RM734-CN(2F); transition temperatures (°C) are on cooling from the isotropic liquid.5,33 Green and red arrows indicate increased and decreased TNF-N relative to the parent material, respectively, while a black dash indicates the absence of the NF phase; note that the parent material does not display the NF phase. |
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