混合による強誘電性カラムナー液晶の新規発現と物性の制御

抄録

Establishing a methodology to control the properties of ferroelectric columnar liquid crystals (FCLCs) is key to utilizing them as materials. This study demonstrates that mixing is an effective approach for tuning ferroelectric properties. Novel FCLC materials were realized by mixing urea molecules with a small steric hindrance showing pyroelectricity and a large steric hindrance showing little electric-field responsiveness. The two different molecules are stacked alternately due to steric effects, exhibiting a stable hexagonal columnar phase. Depending on the mixing ratio, the intermolecular hydrogen bonding strength could be tuned, and the coercive field and spontaneous polarization were controlled by temperature.