Nematic liquid crystal phase molecular arrangements

The directors (long molecular axes) of the constituent molecules in nematic phases are parallel to one another on average. This is the only order present in nematic liquid crystals, which are the most fluid type of liquid-crystalline phase. Molecules that form cholesteric phases must be optically active or contain an optically active dopant. As the phase name implies, the constituent molecules are frequently steroids and most commonly are cholesteric esters or halides. A conceptual model of the cholesteric phase includes layers of molecules in nematic-like positions, each layer being twisted slightly with respect to the ones above and below it. When the phase consists only of optically active molecules, the angle of twist between layers is typically less than one degree. Several subclasses of discotic phases exist. In all, the molecular planes of the constituent molecules are parallel. However, the discs can pack in nematic-like arrangements (ND) or in columns that are internally ordered (D ) or disordered (Dd) and may be stacked vertically,... 

In principle, a free energy expansion of this type should be valid for nematic liquid crystals, with s denoting the usual orientational order parameter defined by (2.3.1). The term of order is not precluded by symmetry, for the states s and —s represent two entirely different kinds of molecular arrangement which are not symmetry related and do not have equal free energies. In the former case, the molecules are more nearly parallel to the unique axis, while in the latter they are more nearly perpendicular to it. However, in the nematic phase s is usually quite large (greater than about 0.4) so that very many more terms have to be included in the expansion in order to draw any valid conclusions. Consequently, the... 

The two most common molecular motifs that lead to liquid crystal phase behavior are the rod aud the disk. Clearly rodlike molecules have one unique axis that is longer than the other two, while diskUke molecules have one unique short axis and two longer axes (Figure 1). RodUke molecules organize into nematic or smectic phases, while disklike systems form nematic or colunmar phases. Figure 2 shows schematic diagrams of molecules arranged in a nematic, smectic A (SmA), and smectic C (SmC) liquid crystal phase (= mesophase). There are very many smectic phases of which SmA and SmC are only two. ... 

Liquid crystal phases are anisotropic, and the c director is used to indicate the direction of molecular orientation. In the case of the (a) columnar discotic, (b) nematic, and (c) smectic C phases, make a sketch of the molecular arrangement and indicate the c director. 

In 1978, Bryan [11] reported on crystal structure precursors of liquid crystalline phases and their implications for the molecular arrangement in the mesophase. In this work he presented classical nematogenic precursors, where the molecules in the crystalline state form imbricated packing, and non-classical ones with cross-sheet structures. The crystalline-nematic phase transition was called displacive. The displacive type of transition involves comparatively limited displacements of the molecules from the positions which they occupy with respect to their nearest neighbours in the crystal. In most cases, smectic precursors form layered structures. The crystalline-smectic phase transition was called reconstitutive because the molecular arrangement in the crystalline state must alter in a more pronounced fashion in order to achieve the mesophase arrangement [12]. 

Liquid crystals can display different degrees of long-range order, dependent on temperature, chemical composition, and the presence or absence of electric fields. In the nematic phase, the molecular axes point in a common direction, denoted by the director n but the molecular centers are otherwise arranged randomly. Because of the low degree of long-range order, nematic LCs have viscosities typical of ordinary liquids, and displays based on nematic LCs can operate at television frame rates. The most popular nematic-based display, the twisted nematic (TN), will be discussed in more detail below. 

Understand how the molecular arrangements characteristic of nematic, smectic, and cholesteric liquid crystals differ from ordinary liquids and from each other. Be able to recognize the features of molecules that favor formation of liquid crystalline phases. (Section 11.7)... 

Smectic liquid crystalline polymers have more ordered structures than nematic liquid crystalline polymers, as their molecular arrangements have not only long-range orientational order, but also positional order. The positional order refers to the layer packing structures of the polymers. The less ordered smectic liquid crystals, such as smectic A, are true one-dimensional crystals. The packing structure of the smectic A is illustrated in Figure 5.6. The smectic A phase can be considered as convolution of a layer of two-dimensional liquid, i.e., a layer of randomly packed hard rods that are uniaxially oriented in the direction of the layer normal, and a one-dimensional lattice as shown in Figure 5.7. 

The most important multicolour display technology in current use involves liquid crystal displays (LCDs), which overtook CRTs in popularity around the mid-2000s. Liquid crystals (LCs), commonly referred to as the fourth state of matter, are materials that are intermediate in character between the crystalline solid and liquid states.Unlike normal isotropic liquids in which the molecules essentially adopt a randomised orientation, liquid crystals show some time-averaged positional orientation of the molecules. In this sense, they resemble solid crystalline materials, although they retain most of the properties of liquids, notably the ability to flow. They are formed most commonly from molecules with rod-like geometry, which are referred to as calamitic. These molecules may orientate in various ways to form different types of LC phases [mesophases). There are three main mesophase types smectic, nematic and chiral nematic. In the smectic mesophase, as illustrated in Figure 11.1(a), the molecules are arranged in raft-like layers with their molecular axes parallel. These layers can pass over each other as the material flows. In the... 

Second, the ability of completely aromatic polyesters to form mesomorphic structures is interesting. Obviously, in such cases, the appearance of nematic LC states seems most probable. Furthermore, some polybenzoates (3-8) show mesophases, which cannot be described in terms of the conventional classification of liquid crystals, with respect to their arrangement, and which are similar to mesomorphic structures of flexible-chain polyorganosiloxanes (9) and polyphosphazenes (10). Finally, studies of relaxations and phase transitions in rigid-chain LC polyesters, in particular, their molecular mobility in the solid state, i.e., below the melting temperature of crystalline phase, are of great interest. 

Liquid crystals are organic compounds in a state of matter intermediate between that of an isotropic liquid and an anisotropic crystalline soUd. Most liquid crystalline molecules are markedly elongated and rod like. In nematic liquid crystalline materials, the directions of the long molecular axes (directors) are arranged parallel to each other. Adding a chiral molecule to a nematic phase causes a superstructure comparable to the steps of a spiral staircase. The structure can be understood as... 

The orthogonal arrangement of the disc-like molecules in the columns of and D id phases makes these phases uniaxial, while the tilted phases (Drd and Doh.d and Dt) are optically biaxial. There are two additional columnar phases labeled as and that have not yet been classified. The columnar phases were discovered before the observation of a nematic phase for disc-like molecules. Both chiral nematic phases and the re-entrant behavior have now been observed in discotics. The phase diagram and molecular structure of a typical discotic liquid crystal are shown in Fig. 1.11. Finally, it is noted that another classification scheme for the discotic mesophases has been used [1.26], which is based on the notation used for the conventional smectics. 

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