Molecular Dynamics and Kinetics of Isothermal Cold Crystallization in the Chiral Smectogenic 3F7HPhH6 Glassformer

An investigation of the glass transition of the antiferroelectric smectic C*A phase and cold crystallization of (S)-4’-(1-methylheptylcarbonyl)biphenyl-4-yl 4-[7-(2,2,3,3,4,4,4-heptafluoro- butoxy)heptyl-1-oxy]benzoate (denoted as 3F7HPhH6) by differential scanning calorimetry, polarizing optical microscopy and broadband dielectric spectroscopy is presented. The fragility index mf = 72, classifying 3F7HPhH6 as a glassformer with intermediate fragility, was obtained from the temperature dependence of the α-process relaxation time, measured upon cooling. Duplication of the α-process was observed exclusively upon heating, before the onset of cold crystallization, and is connected with the pre-transitional effect. The presence of two crystal phases likely influences the kinetics of cold crystallization; the idea stems from a comparison with previous results for the 3F7HPhF6 and 3F7HPhH7 compounds. Additionally, the presence of the smectic C*α; sub-phase in a narrow temperature range was proved based on the differential scanning calorimetry and broadband dielectric spectroscopy results, as well as the fractal dimension analysis of the textures obtained by polarizing optical microscopy.