The effect of side chain length on the mesomorphic properties of ferroelectric nematogens

Marta Lavrič and George Cordoyiannis, in collaboration with coworkers from Complex Matter Department (A. Sterle, N. Sebastian, and A. Mertlej) and research groups from Czech Academy of Sciences (N. Podoliak, M. Cigl, P. Golub, V. Novotna) and University of the Basque Country (A. Erkoreka, J. Martinez-Perdiguero), have published an article entitled “The effect of side chain length on the mesomorphic properties of ferroelectric nematogens” in Materials Advances.

In this paper, a previously reported ferroelectric nematogen bearing a dimethylamino-terminated part was modified and explored. The effect of terminal group and molecular length on the mesomorphic properties was investigated in two new homologues. While previously reported shorter homologues exhibited a direct phase transition from the isotropic to the ferroelectric nematic phase, for prolonged alkyl chain a narrow nematic phase exists in-between. The mesomorphic and material properties of new compounds were established, and ferroelectricity was confirmed combining polarization, SHG signal and permittivity measurements.

DOI: 10.1039/d6ma00897f