Abstract
Structural studies of two-dimensionally ordered phases made of bent-core mesogens are presented, with the emphasis on the X-ray studies of the columnar phases built of smectic layer fragments. We present the evidence for two types of packing of layer fragments: the B1-type structures where the layers are broken into blocks arranged into the orthogonal body centered lattice and the B1rev-type structures made of slightly deformed layers, where the primitive crystallographic unit cell is in general oblique. In some cases two-dimensional structures made of bilayers are observed. Bilayers are characteristic for the general tilt phases, which possess a longitudinal polarization component, in the direction perpendicular to the smectic layer fragment. We also outline the theoretical model predicting and describing the observed structures and present a model which enables the calculation of the electron density maps from the X-ray diffraction data.
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Acknowledgments
The work presented was supported by the Slovenian Research Agency through the research program P1-0055 and by the Polish-Slovenian bilateral projects BI-PL/08-09-015 and BI-PL/10-11-010.
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Vaupotič, N., Pociecha, D., Gorecka, E. (2011). Polar and Apolar Columnar Phases Made of Bent-Core Mesogens. In: Tschierske, C. (eds) Liquid Crystals. Topics in Current Chemistry, vol 318. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/128_2011_231
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/128_2011_231
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