On the molecular origins of the ferroelectric splay nematic phase.

ABSTRACT: Nematic liquid crystals have been known for more than a century, but it was not until the 60s-70s that, with the development of room temperature nematics, they became widely used in applications. Polar nematic phases have been long-time predicted, but have only been experimentally realized recently. Synthesis of materials with nematic polar ordering at room temperature is certainly challenging and requires a deep understanding of its formation mechanisms, presently lacking. Here, we compare two materials of similar chemical structure and demonstrate that just a subtle change in the molecular structure enables denser packing of the molecules when they exhibit polar order, which shows that reduction of excluded volume is in the origin of the polar nematic phase. Additionally, we propose that

SUBMITTER: Mandle RJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8367997 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature