EPR study of the polydomain structure of the twist-bend nematic phase of CB9CB in the bulk

Bacchiocchi, Corrado; Tamba, Maria-Gabriela; Mehl, Georg H.; Arcioni, Alberto; Miglioli, Isabella; Zannoni, Claudio

Abstract

EPR spin probe spectra of the liquid crystal phases exhibited, in the bulk, by the 1″,9″-bis(4-
cyanobiphenyl-4’-yl)nonane (CB9CB) bent-shape dimer showed that, on cooling from the isotropic
phase, this material forms a uniaxial nematic phase with a uniform director macroscopically
aligned along the spectrometer field. Upon further cooling, a transition into the twist-bend
nematic phase is observed after a biphasic region of approximately 4 K. In this lower temperature
nematic phase, the director does not appear to be macroscopically aligned. The non-uniform
director distribution is modelled as a collection of monodomains tilted with respect to the
magnetic field and orientationally distributed around the tilt direction.

Citation

Bacchiocchi, C., Tamba, M.-G., Mehl, G. H., Arcioni, A., Miglioli, I., & Zannoni, C. (2018). EPR study of the polydomain structure of the twist-bend nematic phase of CB9CB in the bulk. Liquid crystals, 45(13-15), 2109-2120. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678292.2018.1501110

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 2, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Aug 2, 2018
• Publication Date: Aug 2, 2018
• Deposit Date: Aug 2, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 3, 2019
• Journal: Liquid Crystals
• Print ISSN: 0267-8292
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 45
• Issue: 13-15
• Pages: 2109-2120
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02678292.2018.1501110
• Keywords: General Materials Science; General Chemistry; Condensed Matter Physics
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/961319
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02678292.2018.1501110
• Additional Information: Peer Review Statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope.; Aim & Scope: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=tlct20
• Contract Date: Sep 6, 2018