Investigation of the internal structure of the cubic phase formed by multiple thermal cycles for a liquid crystal molecule with methyl groups in the core part

Abstract

The compound examined is a symmetric-core molecule with phenylbenzene (PB) at both sides of the central group and a methyl group as a side group, having a docosyloxy terminal chain, denoted MPB-22. As an effect of the side groups, we found that the Ia3d-Cub phase shifts to the low-temperature side compared to PB-22 without methyl groups. We also investigated the packing structure of the molecular cores in the Ia3d-Cub phase and found that the methyl group would be responsible for the packing structure sensitively dependent on the experienced thermal cycles.