Highly elastic liquid crystals with a sub-nanonewton bending elastic constant mediated by the resident molecular assemblies.
A surprisingly high bending elastic constant (K33 ) is obtained in a newly synthesized compound shown here. Mixtures containing a few percent of this compound confirm the influence of the unusual K33 values, and show an improved electro-optic response. The origin of the huge K33 is discussed based on the formation of a smectic cluster structure formed in the nematic phase.
Department of Organic and Polymeric Materials, Tokyo Institute of Technology, O-okayama, Meguro, Tokyo, 152-8552, Japan.
Satoshi
S
Aya
Haruki
H
Obara
Damian
D
Pociecha
Fumito
F
Araoka
Kunihiko
K
Okano
Ken
K
Ishikawa
Ewa
E
Gorecka
Takashi
T
Yamashita
Hideo
H
Takezoe
X-ray diffraction; cybotactic clusters; elastic constant; electro-optic response; liquid crystals