Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
<mark>Journal publication date</mark> | 2009 |
---|---|
<mark>Journal</mark> | Soft Matter |
Issue number | 2 |
Volume | 5 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Pages (from-to) | 463-471 |
Publication Status | Published |
<mark>Original language</mark> | English |
In our investigations of a family of achiral bent-core bis-(phenyl)oxadiazole derivatives, we observed some unusual properties of the nematic phase. These include evidence of segregation into domains of opposite handedness and the formation of clusters, nematic phase biaxiality, and a strongly kinetically governed phase behaviour, which leads to the display of unique filament structures at the onset of new order. We suggest that the combination of a deviant calamitic molecular shape with a considerable transverse dipole leads to an unusual strength and combination of molecular interactions, and as a consequence these nematic materials need to be considered as fluctuating and dynamically changing, multi-hierarchical fluids.