Model of the Lyotropic SmC Analog Phase

In this thesis a lyotropic analog of the thermotropic chiral smectic C (SmC ) phase is presented for the first time. So far, only very scarce examples of the achiral variant of this phase have been known in lyotropic liquid crystals and no comprehensive studies have been performed on them. Thus, the focus of the present thesis is on the proof of existence and characterization of this novel phase. Furthermore, a tentative model of the lyotropic SmC analog phase is introduced. Thereby, this thesis contributes to the unification of the often separately treated fields of lyotropic and thermotropic liquid crystals. 

Design of a first structural model of the lyotropic SmC analog phase. 

Fig. 5.42 Structural model of the lyotropic SmC analog phase based on the presented measurements of the C50 sample with 19 wt% of formamide atT - Tc = -10 K...

Fig. 5.43 Refined model of the lyotropic SmC analog phase. The hydrophobic part of the bilayers is highlighted in red, the hydrophilic part in purple and the formamide layer in blue (adapted from [17], Copyright 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH Co. KGaA. Reproduced with permission.)...

On the basis of these observations it is possible to devise a structural model of the lyotropic SmC analog. However, chirality effects are not included in this model and it is thus also applicable to the achiral lyo-SmC phase. 

Based on the results obtained in this thesis, a first model of the lyotropic analog of the SmC phase was developed. The model suggests that the correlation of the director tilt as well as its helical precession takes place via a strong, three-dimensional hydrogen bond network formed by the solvent molecules. When the solvent concentration is increased, the solvent layers become thicker... 

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