Molecular mechanism of anomalous increase in the helical pitch of cholesteric liquid crystals induced by achiral dopants

M Kidowaki, M Moriyama, M Wada…

Index: Kidowaki, Masatoshi; Moriyama, Masaya; Wada, Momoyo; Tamaoki, Nobuyuki Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2003 , vol. 107, # 44 p. 12054 - 12061

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Citation Number: 25

Abstract

A dopant-induced anomalous increase in the helical pitch of dicholesteryl 10, 12- docosadiynedioate 1 is explained by generation of smectic clusters in the cholesteric phase where the dopants act as promoters of smectic domains. The dopants, having a mesogenic core and the proper length of alkyl chains on both their molecular sides, such as 4, 4'- dialkylazobenzenes, 4, 4'-dialkylazoxybenzenes and 4, 4'-dialkylbiphenyls, considerably ...