Chiralization and ferroelectric state induction in nanostructured liquid crystals

The liquid crystals (LC), due to their naturally high bulk ordering, strong birefringence and easy electrooptical driving, serve as matrix in the nanocomposites doped with non-mesogenic or mesogenic nanoparticles. The nanocomposite's structural units exhibit very complex molecular form indicating the strength and the intermolecular interaction between the matrix and dopant's molecules. Hydrogen bonds are of particular significance for the formation of the nanocomposite structural units, since the symmetry of the LC nanocomposite could be controlled and controllably decreased due to the acceptor-donor interaction between the dimeric matrix and the dopants. As a result, the LC nanocomposite can reach the lowest symmetry, known as triclinic - C1. Using the LC p,n-alkyloxybensoic acids (nOBA) in form of hydrogen-bonded dimers as matrix and non-mesogenics - single walls carbon nanotubes (SWCNT), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), 4-hydrooxypiridin (HOPY) or mesogen - cholesteryl benzoate (ChB) as dopants and choosing optimal concentrations (where the typical LC state was preserved), we obtained nanocomopsites 7OBA/SWCNT, 7OBA/PFOA, 9OBA/HOPY and 8OBA/ChB. We indicate two forms of ferroelectricity in the studied nanocomposites: developable ferroelectricity, characteristic for the 9OBA/HOPY, 7OBA/PFOA compounds and developed ferroelectricity characteristic for 8OBA/SWCNT, 8OBA/ChB.