Hexagonal structures liquid crystal phases

Figure 7.4. Structure of the reversed hexagonal lyotropic liquid crystal phase.

The mesogens are either packed in closed cylinders that arrange in a hexagonal smectic layer (columnar hexagonal (Colh) liquid crystal phase), or they form a closed-sphere cubic (Cub) liquid crystal phase (Fig. 9.32a) [149, 150]. The Colh phase has a spontaneous polarization that is in the column axis direction and shows an antiferroelectric response. Dissipative structures appear specifically in systems without molecular asymmetry. That is, as described in Fig. 9.32b, when asymmetric molecules are packed in layers, a difference in packing density occurs in the lower and upper halves of the layer [150]. 

The association of block copolymers in a selective solvent into micelles was the subject of the previous chapter. In this chapter, ordered phases in semidilute and concentrated block copolymer solutions, which often consist of ordered arrays of micelles, are considered. In a semidilute or concentrated block copolymer solution, as the concentration is increased, chains begin to overlap, and this can lead to the formation of a liquid crystalline phase such as a cubic phase of spherical micelles, a hexagonal phase of rod-like micelles or a lamellar phase. These ordered structures are associated with gel phases. Gels do not flow under their own weight, i.e. they have a finite yield stress. This contrasts with micellar solutions (sols) (discussed in Chapter 3) which flow readily due to a liquid-like organization of micelles. The ordered phases in block copolymer solutions are lyotropic liquid crystal phases that are analogous to those formed by low-molecular-weight surfactants. 

A mesomorphic (liquid-crystal) phase of soap micelles, oriented in a hexagonal array of cylinders. Middle soap contains a similar or lower proportion of soap (e.g., 50%) as opposed to water. Middle soap is in contrast to neat soap, which contains more soap than water and is also a mesomorphic phase, but has a lamellar structure rather than a hexagonal array of cylinders. Also termed clotted soap . See Neat Soap. 

Although most of the initial polymers and copolymers are no longer available, these systems should help us to investigate the details and structural consequences of a pre-ordering of the polymer melt, or the formation of a precursor crystal in polymer crystallization. From the present and as yet still sketchy results, it appears however that (a) if a crystal phase results from the transformation of a liquid crystal phase (usually of hexagonal symmetry), different orientations of the crystal unit cell are likely, which is not observed in conventional polymer crystallization (for example, in polyethy-... 

Micellar solutions are isotropic microstructured fluids which form under certain conditions. At other conditions, liquid crystals periodic in at least one dimension can form. The lamellar liquid crystal phase consists of periodically stacked bilayers (a pair of opposed monolayers). The sheetlike surfactant structures can curl into long rods (closing on either the head or tail side) with parallel axes arrayed in a periodic hexagonal or rectangular spacing to form a hexagonal or a rectangular liquid crystal. Spherical micelles or inverted micelles whose centers are periodically distributed on a lattice of cubic symmetry form a cubic liquid crystal. 

On the other hand, studies with three-dimensional isotropic lamellar matrices have shown that Azone is a weakly polar molecule, which can occupy the interfacial region as well as the hydrocarbon interior of bilayers [86,87]. The contrasting observations of Azone promoting the assembly of reversed-type liquid-crystal phases (e.g., reversed hexagonal and reversed micellar) in simple model lipid systems [88-90], while also favoring the formation of lamellar structures in one of these mixtures [91], adds further confusion to the discussion [92]. This notwithstanding, the studies by Schiickler and co-workers [91] emphasize the differences in the calorimetric profiles of intact human stratum comeum (HSC) and model SC lipid mixtures Although these systems are clearly useful and versatile, extrapolation of inferences from model lipids to the intact membrane must be performed with caution. 

In Fig. 2, a variety of micelle structures are shown. Typical shapes of micelles are spherical, rod-like, and worm-like. At high concentrations of surfactant or at high concentrations of counterions, liquid crystals are usually formed. Hexagonal, cubic, and lamellar are common liquid crystal phases that occupy much of a... 

---