title: Chemical Programming of the Domain of Existence of Liquid Crystals.
abstract: This work illustrates how enthalpy and entropy changes responsible for successive phase transitions of cyanobiphenyl-based liquid crystals can be combined to give cohesive free energy densities. These new parameters are able to rationalize and quantify the demixing of the melting and clearing processes that occur in thermotropic liquid crystals. Minor structural variations at the molecular level can be understood as pressure increments that alter either the melting or clearing temperatures in a predictable way. This assessment of microsegregation operating in amphiphilic molecules paves the way for the chemical programming of the domain of existence of liquid-crystalline phases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Inorganic, Analytical and Applied Chemistry, University of Geneva, 30 quai E. Ansermet, 1211, Geneva 4, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Thibault
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dutronc
authors.affiliation: Department of Inorganic, Analytical and Applied Chemistry, University of Geneva, 30 quai E. Ansermet, 1211, Geneva 4, Switzerland. Emmanuel.terazzi@unige.ch.
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Terazzi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Crystallography, University of Geneva, 24 quai E. Ansermet, 1211, Geneva 4, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Laure
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guénée
authors.affiliation: Department of Inorganic, Analytical and Applied Chemistry, University of Geneva, 30 quai E. Ansermet, 1211, Geneva 4, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Kerry-Lee
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Buchwalder
authors.affiliation: Institut Lavoisier de Versailles, UMR 8180, University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, 45 av. des Etats-Unis, 78035, Versailles, France.
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Floquet
authors.affiliation: Department of Inorganic, Analytical and Applied Chemistry, University of Geneva, 30 quai E. Ansermet, 1211, Geneva 4, Switzerland. Claude.Piguet@unige.ch.
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Piguet
keywords: cyanobiphenyls; liquid crystals; phase transitions; structure elucidation; thermodynamics