Nanoconfinement of guest materials by helical nanofilament networks of bent-core mesogens

The helical nanofilament (HNF) liquid crystal phase is a complex, hierarchical self-assembly in which bent-core molecules cooled from the isotropic melt form dense periodic arrays of nanoscale filaments of twisted smectic layers, a structure driven by an inherent tendency of the layers to be locally...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Soft matter 2013-01, Vol.9 (2), p.462-471
Main Authors: Chen, Dong, Zhu, Chenhui, Wang, Haitao, Maclennan, Joseph E., Glaser, Matthew A., Korblova, Eva, Walba, David M., Rego, James A., Soto-Bustamante, Eduardo A., Clark, Noel A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Filaments
Helical
Metamaterials
Nanocomposites
Nanomaterials
Nanostructure
Networks
Self assembly
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The helical nanofilament (HNF) liquid crystal phase is a complex, hierarchical self-assembly in which bent-core molecules cooled from the isotropic melt form dense periodic arrays of nanoscale filaments of twisted smectic layers, a structure driven by an inherent tendency of the layers to be locally saddle-splayed. Here we report the results of a study of mixtures of an HNF-forming bent-core liquid crystal with a variety of organic guest molecules, showing that the high temperature, isotropic phase is completely mixed but that upon cooling the filaments form and grow, expelling the guest material from their internal volume. The nanofilaments form a network which acts as a porous nanoconfinement medium of large internal area ( similar to 100 m super(2) cm super(-3)), with the guest material confined to nanoscale interstitial volumes between the filaments. Such helical nanofilament networks represent a robust platform for potential applications in chiral separations, asymmetric synthesis, and photonic metamaterials.
ISSN:1744-683X
1744-6848
DOI:10.1039/C2SM25997D