Design and synthesis of photoresponsive bent-core liquid crystals exhibiting polar smectic phases
Abstract
Bent-core liquid crystal represent a fascinating class of self-assembling materials. This is due their unique organized fluidic states – mesophases – that are widely studied for their electrooptical and optical responses. We designed and synthesized two series of mesogens based on laterally substituted 3-hydroxybenzoic acid and tuned their properties by changing the linking group in both side-arms. Using polarizing optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and x-ray diffraction, we have established the mesomorphic properties and found several types of smectic mesophases. For homologues comprising the photosensitive azo group, we have studied their switching ability in a solution as well as in mesophases employing external UV light irradiation. We have confirmed the ability of the materials to completely undergo the light-induced switching from a mesophase to isotropic liquid by on-line illumination of an x-ray sample. Unlike previously studied compounds of related structure, the studied compounds exhibited thermally unstable nematic phases and stable enantiotropic antiferroelectric polar smectic C phases. A transition from a an apolar SmC to SmCAPA phase is also documented.
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BibTeX
@article{jansova2026design,
title = {{Design and synthesis of photoresponsive bent-core liquid crystals exhibiting polar smectic phases}},
author = {Barbora Jansová and Václav Kozmík and Jiří Svoboda and Martin Krupička and Damian Pociecha and Marcel Bouvet and Zuzana Böhmová and Vladimíra Novotná and Michal Kohout},
journal = {Materials Advances},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1039/d5ma00379b},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05842762v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Design and synthesis of photoresponsive bent-core liquid crystals exhibiting polar smectic phases
AU - Barbora Jansová
AU - Václav Kozmík
AU - Jiří Svoboda
AU - Martin Krupička
AU - Damian Pociecha
AU - Marcel Bouvet
AU - Zuzana Böhmová
AU - Vladimíra Novotná
AU - Michal Kohout
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/29
JO - Materials Advances
DO - 10.1039/d5ma00379b
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05842762v1
AB - Bent-core liquid crystal represent a fascinating class of self-assembling materials. This is due their unique organized fluidic states – mesophases – that are widely studied for their electrooptical and optical responses. We designed and synthesized two series of mesogens based on laterally substituted 3-hydroxybenzoic acid and tuned their properties by changing the linking group in both side-arms. Using polarizing optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and x-ray diffraction, we have established the mesomorphic properties and found several types of smectic mesophases. For homologues comprising the photosensitive azo group, we have studied their switching ability in a solution as well as in mesophases employing external UV light irradiation. We have confirmed the ability of the materials to completely undergo the light-induced switching from a mesophase to isotropic liquid by on-line illumination of an x-ray sample. Unlike previously studied compounds of related structure, the studied compounds exhibited thermally unstable nematic phases and stable enantiotropic antiferroelectric polar smectic C phases. A transition from a an apolar SmC to SmCAPA phase is also documented.
SN - 2633-5409
ER -