Antiferroelectricity in achiral mesogenic mixtures of organic materials

Abstract To clarify the mechanism involved in the appearance of antiferroelectric properties in mixtures of polymers containing achiral mesogenic side chains and their monomers, X-ray investigation was carried out in pyroelectrically active samples. The thermal stability of such systems is also reported. The X-ray investigation shows that in highly concentrated mixtures of monomer in polymer, a segregation of the excess of monomer from an optimized ratio (33% monomer/polymer) occurs.