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New catalysts bearing chelate ligands for ring opening polymerization studies. (2023)
Thesis
Zhang, X. (2023). New catalysts bearing chelate ligands for ring opening polymerization studies. (Thesis). University of Hull. Retrieved from https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4443364

Chapter 1: The accumulation of traditional polymer (plastic) pollution has led people to start looking for biodegradable plastics as alternatives. This first chapter provides information on the concept and the development of biodegradable polymers. I... Read More about New catalysts bearing chelate ligands for ring opening polymerization studies..

The Effect of Mesogenic Coronas on the Type and Anisotropy of Gold Nanoparticle Superlattices: When Can the Tail Wag the Dog? (2023)
Journal Article
Zhao, Y. Y., Li, Y., Cao, Y., Mehl, G. H., Liu, F., & Ungar, G. (2023). The Effect of Mesogenic Coronas on the Type and Anisotropy of Gold Nanoparticle Superlattices: When Can the Tail Wag the Dog?. Chemistry: a European journal, 29(11), Article e202203673. https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202203673

The correlation between the size of nanoparticles, the structure and shape of mesogenic ligands and the ensuing assembly behaviour is not really understood. Closer inspection shows very surprising features. Here, 2- and 4-nm gold nanoparticles (NPs)... Read More about The Effect of Mesogenic Coronas on the Type and Anisotropy of Gold Nanoparticle Superlattices: When Can the Tail Wag the Dog?.

Self-assembly of Gold Nanoparticles into an Adjustable Plasmonic 3D Lattice using Janus-type Forked Mesogenic Ligands (2022)
Journal Article
Zhao, Y. Y., Cao, Y., Siligardi, G., Mehl, G. H., Liu, F., & Ungar, G. (2022). Self-assembly of Gold Nanoparticles into an Adjustable Plasmonic 3D Lattice using Janus-type Forked Mesogenic Ligands. Chemistry - An Asian Journal, Article e202200057. https://doi.org/10.1002/asia.202200057

We report the formation of a 3D body-centred self-assembled superlattice of gold nanoparticles whose interparticle gap, and hence its plasmonic properties, are adjustable exclusively in the xy-plane. Thus, even though the particles are spherical, the... Read More about Self-assembly of Gold Nanoparticles into an Adjustable Plasmonic 3D Lattice using Janus-type Forked Mesogenic Ligands.

Deciphering helix assembly in the heliconical nematic phase via tender resonant X-ray scattering (2021)
Journal Article
Cao, Y., Feng, J., Nallapaneni, A., Arakawa, Y., Zhao, K., Zhang, H., …Liu, F. (2021). Deciphering helix assembly in the heliconical nematic phase via tender resonant X-ray scattering. Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 9(31), 10020-10028. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1tc02027g

Being a link between a uniaxial nematic and a chiral nematic, the twist bend nematic (NTB) has been an intriguing topic for research over the last decade as a key to understanding chirality generation. Accurate description and understanding of resona... Read More about Deciphering helix assembly in the heliconical nematic phase via tender resonant X-ray scattering.

The beauty of twist-bend nematic phase: Fast switching domains, first order fréedericksz transition and a hierarchy of structures (2021)
Journal Article
Panov, V. P., Song, J. K., Mehl, G. H., & Vij, J. K. (2021). The beauty of twist-bend nematic phase: Fast switching domains, first order fréedericksz transition and a hierarchy of structures. Crystals, 11(6), 621. https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst11060621

The twist-bend nematic phase (NTB) exhibits a complicated hierarchy of structures responsible for several intriguing properties presented here. These are: the observation of a fast electrooptic response, the exhibition of a large electroclinic effect... Read More about The beauty of twist-bend nematic phase: Fast switching domains, first order fréedericksz transition and a hierarchy of structures.

A facile synthesis of a room-temperature chiral discotic nematic liquid crystal based on pentaalkynylbenzene core (2021)
Journal Article
Yu, H., & Mehl, G. H. (in press). A facile synthesis of a room-temperature chiral discotic nematic liquid crystal based on pentaalkynylbenzene core. Liquid crystals, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678292.2021.1900433

The preparation of discotic liquid crystal with a wide thermal nematic phase range remains a challenge. Here, a method to synthesise a class of discotic liquid crystal with exclusive and stable chiral nematic phase over a wide temperature range, base... Read More about A facile synthesis of a room-temperature chiral discotic nematic liquid crystal based on pentaalkynylbenzene core.

Electrochemically Induced Mesomorphism Switching in a Chlorpromazine Hydrochloride Lyotropic Liquid Crystal (2021)
Journal Article
Crapnell, R. D., Alhasan, H. S., Partington, L. I., Zhou, Y., Ahmed, Z., Altalhi, A. A., …Wadhawan, J. D. (2021). Electrochemically Induced Mesomorphism Switching in a Chlorpromazine Hydrochloride Lyotropic Liquid Crystal. ACS Omega, 6(7), 4630-4640. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.0c05284

The discovery of electrochemical switching of the Lα phase of chlorpromazine hydrochloride in water is reported. The phase is characterized using polarizing microscopy, X-ray scattering, rheological measurements, and microelectrode voltammetry. Fast,... Read More about Electrochemically Induced Mesomorphism Switching in a Chlorpromazine Hydrochloride Lyotropic Liquid Crystal.

The interplay between spatial and heliconical orientational order in twist-bend nematic materials (2021)
Journal Article
Saha, R., Feng, C., Welch, C., Mehl, G. H., Feng, J., Zhu, C., …Jakli, A. (2021). The interplay between spatial and heliconical orientational order in twist-bend nematic materials. Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP, 23(7), 4055-4063. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0cp06633h

The helical pitch formed by organic molecules, such as the α-helix of proteins, usually requires hydrogen bonding between chiral units and long-range positional order. It was recently found that certain liquid crystal oligomers can have a twist-bend... Read More about The interplay between spatial and heliconical orientational order in twist-bend nematic materials.

Molecular biaxiality determines the helical structure - infrared measurements of the molecular order in the nematic twist-bend phase of difluoro terphenyl dimer (2021)
Journal Article
Merkel, K., Loska, B., Welch, C., Mehl, G. H., & Kocot, A. (2021). Molecular biaxiality determines the helical structure - infrared measurements of the molecular order in the nematic twist-bend phase of difluoro terphenyl dimer. Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP, 23(7), 4151-4160. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1cp00187f

Fourier-transform infrared polarized spectroscopy was employed, to obtain the three components of the infrared absorbance for a series of bent-shaped dimers containing double fluorinated terphenyl core (DTC5Cn, n = 5, 7, 9, 11). The data were used to... Read More about Molecular biaxiality determines the helical structure - infrared measurements of the molecular order in the nematic twist-bend phase of difluoro terphenyl dimer.

The role of intermolecular interactions in stabilizing the structure of the nematic twist-bend phase (2021)
Journal Article
Merkel, K., Loska, B., Welch, C., Mehl, G. H., & Kocot, A. (2021). The role of intermolecular interactions in stabilizing the structure of the nematic twist-bend phase. RSC advances, 11(5), 2917-2925. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0ra10481g

The understanding of the relationship between molecular structure and the formation of the nematic twist-bend phase is still at an early stage of development. This is mainly related to molecular geometry, while the correlation between the nematic twi... Read More about The role of intermolecular interactions in stabilizing the structure of the nematic twist-bend phase.

Two helices from one chiral centre - self organization of disc shaped chiral nanoparticles (2020)
Journal Article
Mehl, G. H., Yu, H., Qu, W., & Liu, F. (2021). Two helices from one chiral centre - self organization of disc shaped chiral nanoparticles. Chemical science, 12(5), 1778-1782. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0sc05100d

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been prepared and surface-functionalized with a mixture of 1-hexanethiol co-ligands and chiral discogen ligands separated from a disulfide functionviaa flexible spacer. Polarized optical microscopy together with differ... Read More about Two helices from one chiral centre - self organization of disc shaped chiral nanoparticles.

A Compact Full 2π Flexoelectro‐Optic Liquid Crystal Phase Modulator (2020)
Journal Article
Wang, X., Fells, J. A. J., Shi, Y., Ali, T., Welch, C., Mehl, G. H., …Elston, S. J. (2020). A Compact Full 2π Flexoelectro‐Optic Liquid Crystal Phase Modulator. Advanced Materials Technologies, 5(12), Article 2000589. https://doi.org/10.1002/admt.202000589

Wavefront shaping, which is often achieved using liquid crystal (LC) spatial light modulators, is particularly important for a wide range of applications including laser microfabrication and micromanipulation, microscopy, and quantum optics. In this... Read More about A Compact Full 2π Flexoelectro‐Optic Liquid Crystal Phase Modulator.

Chirality enhancement in macro-chiral liquid crystal nanoparticles (2020)
Journal Article
Yu, H., Welch, C., Qu, W., Schubert, C. J., Liu, F., Siligardi, G., & Mehl, G. H. (2020). Chirality enhancement in macro-chiral liquid crystal nanoparticles. Materials Horizons, 7(11), 3021-3027. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0mh01274b

The amplification of molecular chirality by metal nanoparticles (NPs) is an important and rapidly evolving field in nanomaterial research with wide applications in smart materials, catalysis, and solvent-solute interactions. Here we present the resul... Read More about Chirality enhancement in macro-chiral liquid crystal nanoparticles.

Millisecond optical phase modulation using multipass configurations with liquid-crystal devices (2020)
Journal Article
Jin, Y., Elston, S. J., Fells, J. A., Booth, M. J., Welch, C., Mehl, G. H., & Morris, S. M. (2020). Millisecond optical phase modulation using multipass configurations with liquid-crystal devices. Physical Review Applied, 14(2), Article 024007. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.14.024007

We present two configurations for analog 0 to 2π optical phase modulation using liquid crystals (LCs), each of which achieve switching times that are 1 ms or less. One configuration is based on the switching behavior of a so-called nematic pi cell, a... Read More about Millisecond optical phase modulation using multipass configurations with liquid-crystal devices.

Self-Assembly and Temperature-Driven Chirality Inversion of Cholesteryl-Based Block Copolymers (2020)
Journal Article
Krishnasamy, V., Qu, W., Chen, C., Huo, H., Ramanagul, K., Gothandapani, V., …Liu, F. (2020). Self-Assembly and Temperature-Driven Chirality Inversion of Cholesteryl-Based Block Copolymers. Macromolecules, 53(11), 4193-4203. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.9b02264

Block copolymers (BCPs), comprising a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) block and a poly(cholesteryloxyhexyl methacrylate) (PChMA) block, were synthesized via reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer polymerization. The self-assembly of the li... Read More about Self-Assembly and Temperature-Driven Chirality Inversion of Cholesteryl-Based Block Copolymers.

Transmissive flexoelectro-optic liquid crystal optical phase modulator with 2 π modulation (2020)
Journal Article
Wang, X., Fells, J. A. J., Ali, T., Lin, J. D., Welch, C., Mehl, G. H., …Elston, S. J. (2020). Transmissive flexoelectro-optic liquid crystal optical phase modulator with 2 π modulation. AIP Advances, 10(5), Article 055011. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0009630

© 2020 Author(s). In this paper, we demonstrate analog phase modulation in a transmissive configuration using the flexoelectro-optic effect in short-pitch chiral nematic liquid crystal (LC) devices. Two different modes are considered, both of which a... Read More about Transmissive flexoelectro-optic liquid crystal optical phase modulator with 2 π modulation.

Temperature dependence of bend elastic constant in oblique helicoidal cholesterics (2020)
Journal Article
Iadlovska, O. S., Babakhanova, G., Mehl, G. H., Welch, C., Cruickshank, E., Strachan, G. J., …Lavrentovich, O. D. (2020). Temperature dependence of bend elastic constant in oblique helicoidal cholesterics. Physical Review Research, 2(1), Article 013238. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.013248

Elastic moduli of liquid crystals, known as Frank constants, are of quintessential importance for understanding fundamental properties of these materials and for the design of their applications. Although there are many methods to measure the Frank c... Read More about Temperature dependence of bend elastic constant in oblique helicoidal cholesterics.

Analog modulation by the flexoelectric effect in liquid crystals (2020)
Journal Article
Yip, W. C., Welch, C., Mehl, G. H., & Wilkinson, T. D. (2020). Analog modulation by the flexoelectric effect in liquid crystals. Applied optics, 59(9), 2668-2673. https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.386096

We have solved the long-standing problems of stability and hysteresis, and we are able to obtain the homogeneous uniform lying helix structure in polymer-free cholesteric liquid crystals. This is instrumental for the present work to demonstrate the a... Read More about Analog modulation by the flexoelectric effect in liquid crystals.

Probing molecular ordering in the nematic phases of para-linked bimesogen dimers through NMR studies of flexible prochiral solutes (2020)
Journal Article
Heist, L. M., Samulski, E. T., Welch, C., Ahmed, Z., Mehl, G. H., Vanakaras, A. G., & Photinos, D. J. (2020). Probing molecular ordering in the nematic phases of para-linked bimesogen dimers through NMR studies of flexible prochiral solutes. Liquid crystals, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678292.2019.1711214

The quadrupolar splittings of perdeuteriated n-decane dissolved in nematic phases formed by mesogenic dimers of the CBnCB series, for n = 7,9,10,11, are measured throughout the entire temperature range of these phases. These results are reported toge... Read More about Probing molecular ordering in the nematic phases of para-linked bimesogen dimers through NMR studies of flexible prochiral solutes.

Macroscopic chirality of twist-bend nematic phase in bent dimers confirmed by circular dichroism (2019)
Journal Article
Stevenson, W. D., Zeng, X., Welch, C., Thakur, A. K., Ungar, G., & Mehl, G. H. (2020). Macroscopic chirality of twist-bend nematic phase in bent dimers confirmed by circular dichroism. Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 8(3), 1041-1047. https://doi.org/10.1039/c9tc05061b

Many achiral bent molecules and some polymers with such repeat units exhibit a liquid crystal phase transition between a conventional nematic (N), and a second nematic (Nx) with periodically modulated orientation. Theory predicts several possible str... Read More about Macroscopic chirality of twist-bend nematic phase in bent dimers confirmed by circular dichroism.

A cholesteric liquid crystal device having stable uniform lying helix structure (2019)
Journal Article
Yip, W. C., Welch, C., Mehl, G. H., & Wilkinson, T. D. (2020). A cholesteric liquid crystal device having stable uniform lying helix structure. Journal of Molecular Liquids, 299, Article 112141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2019.112141

A cholesteric liquid crystal device having the uniform lying helix (ULH) structure shows stable and reversible characteristics and it has been demonstrated for the analogue modulation in 10 micro-second response time at room temperature. The device c... Read More about A cholesteric liquid crystal device having stable uniform lying helix structure.

Soft modes of the dielectric response in the twist-bend nematic phase and identification of the transition to a nematic splay bend phase in the CBC7CB dimer (2019)
Journal Article
Merkel, K., Kocot, A., Mehl, G. H., & Welch, C. (2019). Soft modes of the dielectric response in the twist-bend nematic phase and identification of the transition to a nematic splay bend phase in the CBC7CB dimer. Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP, 21(41), 22839-22848. https://doi.org/10.1039/c9cp04952e

The dielectric spectra of the twist-bend nematic phase (NTB) of (the bent-shaped) achiral liquid-crystal dimer 1′′-,7′′-bis(4-cyanobiphenyl-4′-yl)heptane (CB7CB) are studied for the determination of the different relaxation modes. Two molecular proce... Read More about Soft modes of the dielectric response in the twist-bend nematic phase and identification of the transition to a nematic splay bend phase in the CBC7CB dimer.

Dielectric response of electric-field distortions of the twist-bend nematic phase for LC dimers (2019)
Journal Article
Merkel, K., Welch, C., Ahmed, Z., Piecek, W., & Mehl, G. H. (2019). Dielectric response of electric-field distortions of the twist-bend nematic phase for LC dimers. The Journal of chemical physics, 151(11), 114908. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5114824

Wide band dielectric spectroscopy of bent-shaped achiral liquid-crystal dimers 1′′-n′′-bis(4-cyanobiphenyl-4′-yl) n-alkanes (CBnCB n = 7, 9, 11) has been investigated in a frequency range 0.1 Hz–100 MHz using planar-aligned cells of sample thicknesse... Read More about Dielectric response of electric-field distortions of the twist-bend nematic phase for LC dimers.

Oligomeric odd-even effect in liquid crystals (2019)
Journal Article
Saha, R., Babakhanova, G., Parsouzi, Z., Rajabi, M., Gyawali, P., Welch, C., …Jakli, A. (2019). Oligomeric odd-even effect in liquid crystals. Materials Horizons, 6(9), 1905-1912. https://doi.org/10.1039/c9mh00428a

Odd-even effects, oscillations in properties of materials comprised of an odd or even number of connected repeating units, are well-known phenomena in materials science. In organic materials, they are usually associated with the number of methylene... Read More about Oligomeric odd-even effect in liquid crystals.

Pretransitional behavior of viscoelastic parameters at the nematic to twist-bend nematic phase transition in flexible: N -mers (2019)
Journal Article
Parsouzi, Z., Babakhanova, G., Rajabi, M., Saha, R., Gyawali, P., Turiv, T., …Sprunt, S. (2019). Pretransitional behavior of viscoelastic parameters at the nematic to twist-bend nematic phase transition in flexible: N -mers. Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP, 21(24), 13078-13089. https://doi.org/10.1039/c9cp00984a

© 2019 the Owner Societies. We report dynamic light scattering measurements of the orientational (Frank) elastic constants and associated viscosities among a homologous series of a liquid crystalline dimer, trimer, and tetramer exhibiting a uniaxial... Read More about Pretransitional behavior of viscoelastic parameters at the nematic to twist-bend nematic phase transition in flexible: N -mers.

Dynamic response of large tilt-angle flexoelectro-optic liquid crystal modulators (2019)
Journal Article
Fells, J. A. J., Welch, C., Yip, W. C., Elston, S. J., Booth, M. J., Mehl, G. H., …Morris, S. M. (2019). Dynamic response of large tilt-angle flexoelectro-optic liquid crystal modulators. Optics express, 27(11), 15184-15193. https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.27.015184

Journal © 2019 We present here the first time-resolved tilt-angle and retardance measurements for large-tilt (>45°) flexoelectro-optic liquid crystal modulators. These devices have potential for next generation fast switching (>1 kHz), 0-2π analog ph... Read More about Dynamic response of large tilt-angle flexoelectro-optic liquid crystal modulators.

Fast and low loss flexoelectro-optic liquid crystal phase modulator with a chiral nematic reflector (2019)
Journal Article
Wang, X., Fells, J. A., Yip, W. C., Ali, T., Lin, J. D., Welch, C., …Elston, S. J. (2019). Fast and low loss flexoelectro-optic liquid crystal phase modulator with a chiral nematic reflector. Scientific reports, 9(1), Article 7016. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-42831-5

© 2019, The Author(s). In this paper, we demonstrate a flexoelectro-optic liquid crystal phase-only device that uses a chiral nematic reflector to achieve full 2π phase modulation. This configuration is found to be very tolerant to imperfections in t... Read More about Fast and low loss flexoelectro-optic liquid crystal phase modulator with a chiral nematic reflector.

Robust measurement of flexoelectro-optic switching with different surface alignments (2019)
Journal Article
Sandford O'Neill, J. J., Fells, J. A., Welch, C., Mehl, G., Yip, W. C., Wilkinson, T. D., …Morris, S. M. (2019). Robust measurement of flexoelectro-optic switching with different surface alignments. Journal of applied physics, 125(9), Article 093104. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5086241

The alignment of chiral nematic liquid crystals in the so-called uniform lying helix geometry allows for the observation and exploitation of the flexoelectro-optic effect. However, high-quality uniform lying helix alignment is difficult to achieve re... Read More about Robust measurement of flexoelectro-optic switching with different surface alignments.

1H NMR study of molecular order and dynamics in the liquid crystal CB-C9-CB (2019)
Journal Article
Aluculesei, A., Cachitas, H., Carvalho, J., Vaca Chavez, F., Figueirinhas, J. L., Sebastião, P. J., …Mehl, G. H. (2019). 1H NMR study of molecular order and dynamics in the liquid crystal CB-C9-CB. Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP, 21(8), 4523-4537. https://doi.org/10.1039/c8cp06868b

© 2019 the Owner Societies. Molecular order and dynamics of the CB-C9-CB liquid crystalline dimer exhibiting the nematic (N) and the twist bend nematic (Ntb) phases were investigated by proton NMR spectroscopy, using fields of 0.78 T and 7.04 T, and... Read More about 1H NMR study of molecular order and dynamics in the liquid crystal CB-C9-CB.

Proton and Deuterium NMR study of the CBC9CB Dimer System (2019)
Journal Article
Carvalho, J., Cruz, C., Figueirinhas, J. L., Tamba, M., Kohlmeier, A., & Mehl, G. H. (2019). Proton and Deuterium NMR study of the CBC9CB Dimer System. Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 123(6), 1442-1451. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcb.8b11526

Copyright © 2019 American Chemical Society. Using proton and deuterium NMR spectroscopy, this work provides a description of the molecular orientational order of the mesogenic groups in both the N tb and the classical nematic phase (N) of the liquid... Read More about Proton and Deuterium NMR study of the CBC9CB Dimer System.

The induction of the Ntb phase in mixtures (2018)
Journal Article
Ramou, E., Welch, C., Hussey, J., Ahmed, Z., Karahaliou, P. K., & Mehl, G. H. (2018). The induction of the Ntb phase in mixtures. Liquid crystals, 45(13-15), 1929-1935. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678292.2018.1524523

We report the induction of the Ntb phase over a wide temperature and concentration range in a binary system. This was achieved by addition of a flexible dopant without LC properties to a flexible dimer exhibiting only a nematic LC phase. The Ntb phas... Read More about The induction of the Ntb phase in mixtures.

Dynamic calorimetry and XRD studies of the nematic and twist-bend nematic phase transitions in a series of dimers with increasing spacer length (2018)
Journal Article
Stevenson, W. D., Zou, H. X., Zeng, X. B., Welch, C., Ungar, G., & Mehl, G. H. (2018). Dynamic calorimetry and XRD studies of the nematic and twist-bend nematic phase transitions in a series of dimers with increasing spacer length. Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP, 20(39), 25268-25274. https://doi.org/10.1039/c8cp05744c

A modulated and conventional DSC study of the transitions between the twist-bend nematic (Ntb), regular nematic (N) and isotropic liquid (Iso) phases was performed on a series of difluoroterphenyl-based dimers with (CH2)n spacers; n = 5, 7, 9, 11. Th... Read More about Dynamic calorimetry and XRD studies of the nematic and twist-bend nematic phase transitions in a series of dimers with increasing spacer length.

Flexoelectro-optic liquid crystal analog phase-only modulator with a 2π range and 1 kHz switching (2018)
Journal Article
Fells, J. A., Wang, X., Elston, S. J., Welch, C., Mehl, G. H., Booth, M. J., & Morris, S. M. (2018). Flexoelectro-optic liquid crystal analog phase-only modulator with a 2π range and 1 kHz switching. Optics letters, 43(18), 4362-4365. https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.43.004362

We present a flexoelectro-optic liquid crystal (LC) analog phase modulator with >2𝜋 phase range at a 1 kHz switching frequency. The chiral nematic LC mixture consists of the bimesogen CBC7CB with chiral dopant R5011, aligned in the uniform lying heli... Read More about Flexoelectro-optic liquid crystal analog phase-only modulator with a 2π range and 1 kHz switching.

Lyotropic 'hairy' TiO2 nanorods (2018)
Journal Article
Cheng, F., Verrelli, E., Alharthi, F. A., Kelly, S. M., O'Neill, M., Kemp, N. T., …Anthopoulos, T. (2019). Lyotropic 'hairy' TiO2 nanorods. Nanoscale advances, 1(1), 254-264. https://doi.org/10.1039/c8na00054a

We report the synthesis of the first stable, solution-processable and photocrosslinkable hybrid organic/inorganic titanium dioxide nanorods as ‘hairy rods’ coated with phosphonate ligands with photoreactive coumarin groups located in a terminal posit... Read More about Lyotropic 'hairy' TiO2 nanorods.

Supramolecular organization of liquid-crystal dimers-bis-cyanobiphenyl alkanes on HOPG by scanning tunneling microscopy (2018)
Journal Article
Krzyzewska, K., Jaroch, T., Maranda-Niedbała, A., Pociecha, D., Górecka, E., Ahmed, Z., …Nowakowski, R. (2018). Supramolecular organization of liquid-crystal dimers-bis-cyanobiphenyl alkanes on HOPG by scanning tunneling microscopy. Nanoscale, 10(34), 16201-16210. https://doi.org/10.1039/c8nr02069h

2D supramolecular organization of a series of six cyanobiphenyl bimesogens deposited on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) is studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The adsorbates are 1,ω-bis(4-cyanobiphenyl-4’-yl)alkanes (CBnCB) with... Read More about Supramolecular organization of liquid-crystal dimers-bis-cyanobiphenyl alkanes on HOPG by scanning tunneling microscopy.

EPR study of the polydomain structure of the twist-bend nematic phase of CB9CB in the bulk (2018)
Journal Article
Bacchiocchi, C., Tamba, M., 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

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... Read More about EPR study of the polydomain structure of the twist-bend nematic phase of CB9CB in the bulk.

Characterization of large tilt-angle flexoelectro-optic switching in chiral nematic liquid crystal devices (2018)
Journal Article
Wang, X., Fells, J. A. J., Welch, C., Tamba, M., Mehl, G. H., Morris, S. M., & Elston, S. J. (2019). Characterization of large tilt-angle flexoelectro-optic switching in chiral nematic liquid crystal devices. Liquid crystals, 46(3), 408-414. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678292.2018.1502822

The “flexoelastic ratio”, which is the ratio of the effective flexoelectric coefficient to the elastic coefficients, is commonly used to characterize the electro-optic behavior of chiral nematic liquid crystal (LC) devices that exhibit flexoelectro-o... Read More about Characterization of large tilt-angle flexoelectro-optic switching in chiral nematic liquid crystal devices.

Tuning selective reflection of light by surface anchoring in cholesteric cells with oblique helicoidal structures (2018)
Journal Article
Iadlovska, O. S., Maxwell, G. R., Babakhanova, G., Mehl, G. H., Welch, C., Shiyanovskii, S. V., & Lavrentovich, O. D. (2018). Tuning selective reflection of light by surface anchoring in cholesteric cells with oblique helicoidal structures. Optics letters, 43(8), 1850-1853. https://doi.org/10.1364/ol.43.001850

Selective reflection of light by oblique helicoidal cholesteric (ChOH) can be tuned in a very broad spectral range by an applied electric field. In this work, we demonstrate that the peak wavelength of the selective reflection can be controlled by su... Read More about Tuning selective reflection of light by surface anchoring in cholesteric cells with oblique helicoidal structures.

Characterization of the Submicrometer Hierarchy Levels in the Twist-Bend Nematic Phase with Nanometric Helices via Photopolymerization. Explanation for the Sign Reversal in the Polar Response (2017)
Journal Article
Panov, V. P., Sreenilayam, S. P., Panarin, Y. P., Vij, J. K., Welch, C. J., & Mehl, G. H. (2017). Characterization of the Submicrometer Hierarchy Levels in the Twist-Bend Nematic Phase with Nanometric Helices via Photopolymerization. Explanation for the Sign Reversal in the Polar Response. Nano Letters, 17(12), 7515-7519. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b03441

Photopolymerization of a reactive mesogen mixed with a mesogenic dimer, shown to exhibit the twist-bend nematic phase (NTB), reveals the complex structure of the self-deformation patterns observed in planar cells. The polymerized reactive mesogen ret... Read More about Characterization of the Submicrometer Hierarchy Levels in the Twist-Bend Nematic Phase with Nanometric Helices via Photopolymerization. Explanation for the Sign Reversal in the Polar Response.

Molecular organization in the twist–bend nematic phase by resonant X-ray scattering at the Se K-edge and by SAXS, WAXS and GIXRD (2017)
Journal Article
Stevenson, W. D., Ahmed, Z., Zeng, X. B., Welch, C., Ungar, G., & Mehl, G. H. (2017). Molecular organization in the twist–bend nematic phase by resonant X-ray scattering at the Se K-edge and by SAXS, WAXS and GIXRD. Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP, 19(21), 13449-13454. https://doi.org/10.1039/c7cp01404j

© the Owner Societies 2017. Using a magnetically aligned liquid crystal mixture containing a novel Se-labelled dimer and the difluoroterphenyl dimer DTC5C7, the twist-bend nematic phase (N tb ) was studied by the resonant scattering of hard X-rays an... Read More about Molecular organization in the twist–bend nematic phase by resonant X-ray scattering at the Se K-edge and by SAXS, WAXS and GIXRD.

Twist-bend nematic phase in cyanobiphenyls and difluoroterphenyls bimesogens (2016)
Journal Article
Panov, V. P., Vij, J. K., & Mehl, G. H. (2017). Twist-bend nematic phase in cyanobiphenyls and difluoroterphenyls bimesogens. Liquid crystals, 44(1), 147-159. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678292.2016.1254289

The paper reviews assignment of the low-temperature nematic phase observed in simple bimesogenic or dimeric systems based on cyanobiphenyls and difluoroterphenyls to the twist-bend nematic phase, NTB, using a range of experimental techniques. These i... Read More about Twist-bend nematic phase in cyanobiphenyls and difluoroterphenyls bimesogens.

Light scattering study of the “pseudo-layer” compression elastic constant in a twist-bend nematic liquid crystal (2016)
Journal Article
Parsouzi, Z., Pardaev, S. A., Welch, C., Ahmed, Z., Mehl, G. H., Baldwin, A. R., …Sprunt, S. (2016). Light scattering study of the “pseudo-layer” compression elastic constant in a twist-bend nematic liquid crystal. Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP, 18(46), 31645-31652. https://doi.org/10.1039/C6CP06292J

The nematic twist-bend (TB) phase, exhibited by certain achiral thermotropic liquid crystalline (LC) dimers, features a nanometer-scale, heliconical rotation of the average molecular long axis (director) with equally probable left- and right-handed d... Read More about Light scattering study of the “pseudo-layer” compression elastic constant in a twist-bend nematic liquid crystal.

Comparative analysis of anisotropic material properties of uniaxial nematics formed by flexible dimers and rod-like monomers (2016)
Journal Article
Cukrov, G., Mosaddeghian Golestani, Y., Xiang, J., Nastishin, Y. A., Ahmed, Z., Welch, C., …Lavrentovich, O. D. (2017). Comparative analysis of anisotropic material properties of uniaxial nematics formed by flexible dimers and rod-like monomers. Liquid crystals, 44(1), 219-231. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678292.2016.1240248

We report temperature dependencies of material properties such as dielectric anisotropy, birefringence, splay (K₁₁), twist (K₂₂), and bend (K₃₃) elastic constants of the uniaxial nematic (N) phase formed by flexible dimers of DTC5C9 and compare their... Read More about Comparative analysis of anisotropic material properties of uniaxial nematics formed by flexible dimers and rod-like monomers.

Director configuration in the twist-bend nematic phase of CB11CB (2016)
Journal Article
Miglioli, I., Bacchiocchi, C., Arcioni, A., Kohlmeier, A., Mehl, G. H., & Zannoni, C. (2016). Director configuration in the twist-bend nematic phase of CB11CB. Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 4(41), 9887-9896. https://doi.org/10.1039/c6tc03246j

The director distribution in the nematic phases exhibited by the 100,1100-bis(4-cyanobiphenyl-40-yl)undecane (CB11CB) liquid crystal has been studied in the bulk with the EPR spin probe technique. EPR spectra confirmed the presence of an higher tempe... Read More about Director configuration in the twist-bend nematic phase of CB11CB.

Deuteron and proton NMR study of D₂, p-dichlorobenzene and 1,3,5-trichlorobenzene in bimesogenic liquid crystals with two nematic phases (2016)
Journal Article
Burnell, E. E., Ahmed, Z., Welch, C., Mehl, G. H., & Dong, R. Y. (2016). Deuteron and proton NMR study of D₂, p-dichlorobenzene and 1,3,5-trichlorobenzene in bimesogenic liquid crystals with two nematic phases. Chemical Physics Letters, 659, 48-54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cplett.2016.07.005

The solutes dideuterium, 1,3,5-trichlorobenzene and p-dichlorobenzene (pdcb) are co-dissolved in a 61/39 wt% mixture of CBC9CB/5CB, a bimesogenic liquid crystal with two nematic phases. NMR spectra are collected for each solute. The local electric fi... Read More about Deuteron and proton NMR study of D₂, p-dichlorobenzene and 1,3,5-trichlorobenzene in bimesogenic liquid crystals with two nematic phases.

Mesophase structure and behaviour in bulk and restricted geometry of a dimeric compound exhibiting a nematic-nematic transition (2016)
Journal Article
Sebastián, N., Tamba, M. G., Stannarius, R., de la Fuente, M. R., Salamonczyk, M., Cukrov, G., …Eremin, A. (2016). Mesophase structure and behaviour in bulk and restricted geometry of a dimeric compound exhibiting a nematic-nematic transition. Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP, 18(28), 19299-19308. https://doi.org/10.1039/c6cp03899a

We present structural studies of a dimeric compound composed of a central heptyl spacer linking two mesogens consisiting of terphenyl units at which two adjacent fluoro groups are attached to each central ring. The terminal rings are linked to pentyl... Read More about Mesophase structure and behaviour in bulk and restricted geometry of a dimeric compound exhibiting a nematic-nematic transition.

Fluctuation modes of a twist-bend nematic liquid crystal (2016)
Journal Article
Parsouzi, Z., Shamid, S. M., Borshch, V., Challa, P. K., Baldwin, A. R., Tamba, M. G., …Sprunt, S. (2016). Fluctuation modes of a twist-bend nematic liquid crystal. Physical Review X, 6(2), 021041-1-021041-16. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.6.021041

We report a dynamic light-scattering study of the fluctuation modes in a thermotropic liquid crystalline mixture of monomer and dimer compounds that exhibits the twist-bend nematic (NTB) phase. The results reveal a spectrum of overdamped fluctuations... Read More about Fluctuation modes of a twist-bend nematic liquid crystal.

Anomalous increase in nematic-isotropic transition temperature in dimer molecules induced by magnetic field (2016)
Journal Article
Salili, S. M., Tamba, M. G., Sprunt, S. N., Welch, C., Mehl, G. H., Jákli, A., & Gleeson, J. T. (2016). Anomalous increase in nematic-isotropic transition temperature in dimer molecules induced by magnetic field. Physical review letters, 116(21-27 May), Article 217801. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.217801

We have determined the nematic-isotropic transition temperature as a function of applied magnetic field in three different thermotropic liquid crystalline dimers. These molecules are comprised of two rigid calamitic moieties joined end to end by flex... Read More about Anomalous increase in nematic-isotropic transition temperature in dimer molecules induced by magnetic field.

Added alkane allows thermal thinning of supramolecular columns by forming superlattice - an X-ray and neutron study (2016)
Journal Article
Yen, M. H., Chaiprapa, J., Zeng, X., Liu, Y., Cseh, L., Mehl, G. H., & Ungar, G. (2016). Added alkane allows thermal thinning of supramolecular columns by forming superlattice - an X-ray and neutron study. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 138(18), 5757-5760. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.6b01172

We report a columnar superlattice formed by blends of dendron-like Li 3,4,5-tris(n-alkoxy)benzoates with n-alkanes. Without the alkane, the wedge-shaped molecules form liquid crystal columns with 3 dendrons in a supramolecular disk. The same structur... Read More about Added alkane allows thermal thinning of supramolecular columns by forming superlattice - an X-ray and neutron study.

Second harmonic light scattering induced by defects in the twist-bend nematic phase of liquid crystal dimers (2016)
Journal Article
Pardaev, S. A., Shamid, S. M., Tamba, M. G., Welch, C., Mehl, G. H., Gleeson, J. T., …Sprunt, S. (2016). Second harmonic light scattering induced by defects in the twist-bend nematic phase of liquid crystal dimers. Soft matter, 12(19), 4472-4482. https://doi.org/10.1039/c6sm00585c

The nematic twist-bend (NTB) phase, exhibited by certain thermotropic liquid crystalline (LC) dimers, represents a new orientationally ordered mesophase -- the first distinct nematic variant discovered in many years. The NTB phase is distinguished by... Read More about Second harmonic light scattering induced by defects in the twist-bend nematic phase of liquid crystal dimers.

Similarities and differences between molecular order in the nematic and twist-bend nematic phases of a symmetric liquid crystal dimer (2016)
Journal Article
Emsley, J. W., Lelli, M., Joy, H., Tamba, M. G., & Mehl, G. H. (2016). Similarities and differences between molecular order in the nematic and twist-bend nematic phases of a symmetric liquid crystal dimer. Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP, 18(14), 9419-9430. https://doi.org/10.1039/c5cp07304a

The order parameter, Szz, where z is the para axis of the difluoroterphenyl groups in DTC5C9, have been obtained from chemical shift anisotropies measured by ¹³C – {¹1H} NMR experiments at temperatures throughout the nematic, NU, and twist-bend nemat... Read More about Similarities and differences between molecular order in the nematic and twist-bend nematic phases of a symmetric liquid crystal dimer.

Thermal optical non-linearity of nematic mesophase enhanced by gold nanoparticles – an experimental and numerical investigation (2016)
Journal Article
Kurochkin, O., Murugesan, Y. K., Bennett, T. P., D'Alessandro, G., Reznikov, Y., Tang, B. J., …Kaczmarek, M. (2016). Thermal optical non-linearity of nematic mesophase enhanced by gold nanoparticles – an experimental and numerical investigation. Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP, 18(16), 11503-11512. https://doi.org/10.1039/c6cp00116e

In this work the mechanisms leading to the enhancement of optical nonlinearity of nematic liquid crystalline material through localized heating by doping the liquid crystals (LCs) with gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are investigated. We present some exper... Read More about Thermal optical non-linearity of nematic mesophase enhanced by gold nanoparticles – an experimental and numerical investigation.

Synthesis and characterization of gold nanoparticles functionalized with calamitic mesogens (2016)
Journal Article
Cseh, L., & Mehl, G. H. (2016). Synthesis and characterization of gold nanoparticles functionalized with calamitic mesogens. 00 Journal not listed, 61(2), 125-130

(Image presented) Liquid-crystalline nanoparticles represent an exciting class of new materials for a variety of potential applications. By combining supramolecular ordering with the fluid properties of the liquid-crystalline state, these materials o... Read More about Synthesis and characterization of gold nanoparticles functionalized with calamitic mesogens.

The stabilisation of the Nx phase in mixtures (2016)
Journal Article
Ramou, E., Ahmed, Z., Welch, C., Karahaliou, P. K., & Mehl, G. H. (2016). The stabilisation of the Nx phase in mixtures. Soft matter, 12(3), 888-899. https://doi.org/10.1039/c5sm01961c

The phase behaviour of mixtures between two symmetric dimers, CBC9CB and the ether-linked analogue CBOC9OCB was investigated by Polarizing Optical Microscopy (POM), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) studies. The dime... Read More about The stabilisation of the Nx phase in mixtures.

The design and investigation of the self-assembly of dimers with two nematic phases (2015)
Journal Article
Ahmed, Z., Welch, C., & Mehl, G. H. (2015). The design and investigation of the self-assembly of dimers with two nematic phases. RSC advances, 5(113), 93513-93521. https://doi.org/10.1039/c5ra18118f

A series of non-symmetric dimers were synthesised containing either cyanobiphenyl or difluoroterphenyl moieties on one side and a range of long, short, bent, polar or apolar mesogens on the other side of the molecules. The dielectric anisotropy of th... Read More about The design and investigation of the self-assembly of dimers with two nematic phases.

Helically twisted chiral arrays of gold nanoparticles coated with a cholesterol mesogen (2015)
Journal Article
Cseh, L., Mang, X., Zeng, X., Liu, F., Mehl, G., Ungar, G., & Siligardil, G. (2015). Helically twisted chiral arrays of gold nanoparticles coated with a cholesterol mesogen. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 137(40), 12736-12739. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5b05059

© 2015 American Chemical Society. Gold nanoparticles have been prepared and surface-functionalized with a 1:1 molar mixture of a hexylthiol ligand and a chiral mesogenic ligand consisting of a cholesterylbenzoate attached via an undecylthiol spacer.... Read More about Helically twisted chiral arrays of gold nanoparticles coated with a cholesterol mesogen.

Mononuclear Cu(II) complexes of novel salicylidene Schiff bases: synthesis and mesogenic properties (2015)
Journal Article
Cretu, C., Cseh, L., Tang, B. J., Sasca, V., Badea, V., Szerb, E. I., …Costisor, O. (2015). Mononuclear Cu(II) complexes of novel salicylidene Schiff bases: synthesis and mesogenic properties. Liquid crystals, 42(8), 1139-1147. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678292.2015.1028491

Two new Schiff base ligands 1 and 2 (where 1 = 4-(2-hydroxybenzilidenamino)-phenyl-4-(decyloxy)-2-(pent-4-enyloxy)benzoate, 2 = 4-(4-(decyloxy)-2-hydroxybenziliden amino)-phenyl-4-(decyloxy)-2-(pent-4-enyloxy)benzoate) and their copper (Cu)(II) compl... Read More about Mononuclear Cu(II) complexes of novel salicylidene Schiff bases: synthesis and mesogenic properties.

Stabilised columnar mesophases formed by 1 : 1 mixtures of hexaalkoxytriphenylenes with a hexaphenyltriphenylene-based polymer (2015)
Journal Article
McLaren, S. R., Tate, D. J., Lozman, O. R., Mehl, G. H., & Bushby, R. J. (2015). Stabilised columnar mesophases formed by 1 : 1 mixtures of hexaalkoxytriphenylenes with a hexaphenyltriphenylene-based polymer. Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 3(22), 5754-5763. https://doi.org/10.1039/c5tc00661a

The synthesis is reported for a main chain polymer in which the repeat units are 2,3,6,7,10,11-hexaphenyltriphenylene moieties linked through flexible dodecyl chains. In compositions with a series of 2,3,6,7,10,11-hexakis(alkoxy)triphenylenes (HATn)... Read More about Stabilised columnar mesophases formed by 1 : 1 mixtures of hexaalkoxytriphenylenes with a hexaphenyltriphenylene-based polymer.

NMR study of a bimesogenic liquid crystal with two nematic phases (2015)
Journal Article
Burnell, E. E., Dong, R. Y., Kohlmeier, A., Tamba, M. G., Welch, C., & Mehl, G. H. (2015). NMR study of a bimesogenic liquid crystal with two nematic phases. Molecular crystals and liquid crystals, 610(1), 100-107. https://doi.org/10.1080/15421406.2015.1025211

Recent interest in bimesogenic liquid crystals showing two nematic phases has led us to investigate the nematic mean-field interactions in these nematic phases by using rigid solutes as probes. The nematic potential that is modelled by two independen... Read More about NMR study of a bimesogenic liquid crystal with two nematic phases.

Sound absorption of porous cement composites: effects of the porosity and the pore size (2015)
Journal Article
Rutkevičius, M., Austin, Z., Chalk, B., Mehl, G. H., Qin, Q., Rubini, P. A., …Paunov, V. N. (2015). Sound absorption of porous cement composites: effects of the porosity and the pore size. Journal of materials science, 50(9), 3495-3503. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-015-8912-5

© 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York. We prepared sound absorbing cement–hydrogel composites using a hydrogel slurry templating technique. We air-dried the wet cement composites containing a varying percentage and size of entrapped hydrog... Read More about Sound absorption of porous cement composites: effects of the porosity and the pore size.

Do the short helices exist in the nematic TB phase? (2015)
Journal Article
Górecka, E., Salamończyk, M., Zep, A., Pociecha, D., Welch, C., Ahmed, Z., & Mehl, G. H. (2015). Do the short helices exist in the nematic TB phase?. Liquid crystals, 42(1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678292.2014.984646

Dimeric compounds forming twist-bend nematic, Ntb, phase show unusual optical textures related to the formation of arrays of focal conic defects (FCDs). Some of the focal conics exhibit submicron internal structure with 8 nm periodicity, which is ver... Read More about Do the short helices exist in the nematic TB phase?.

Synthesis and photochromic properties of a bis(diarylethene)-naphthopyran hybrid (2014)
Journal Article
Erko, F. G., Cseh, L., Berthet, J., Mehl, G. H., & Delbaere, S. (2015). Synthesis and photochromic properties of a bis(diarylethene)-naphthopyran hybrid. Dyes and pigments : an international journal, 115(April), 102-109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dyepig.2014.12.015

The synthesis and photochromic properties of a triphotochromic molecule consisting of one naphthopyran flanked by two diarylethene units investigated by UV-Visible and NMR spectroscopies are reported. Six different states resulting from the open/clos... Read More about Synthesis and photochromic properties of a bis(diarylethene)-naphthopyran hybrid.

Correction: Flexoelectric behavior of bimesogenic liquid crystals in the nematic phase - Observation of a new self-assembly pattern at the twist-bend nematic and the nematic interface (2014)
Journal Article
Balachandran, R., Panov, V. P., Panarin, Y. P., Vij, J. K., Tamba, M. G., Mehl, G. H., & Song, J. K. (2014). Correction: Flexoelectric behavior of bimesogenic liquid crystals in the nematic phase - Observation of a new self-assembly pattern at the twist-bend nematic and the nematic interface. Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 2(47), 10217. https://doi.org/10.1039/c4tc90153c

On the structure of the Nx phase of symmetric dimers: inferences from NMR (2014)
Journal Article
Hoffmann, A., Vanakaras, A. G., Kohlmeier, A., Mehl, G., & Photinos, D. J. (2015). On the structure of the Nx phase of symmetric dimers: inferences from NMR. Soft matter, 11(5), 850-855. https://doi.org/10.1039/c4sm02480j

NMR measurements on a selectively deuterated liquid crystal dimer CB-C9-CB, exhibiting two nematic phases, show that the molecules in the lower temperature nematic phase, NX, experience a chiral environment and are ordered about a uniformly oriented... Read More about On the structure of the Nx phase of symmetric dimers: inferences from NMR.

Fabrication of salt–hydrogel marbles and hollow-shell microcapsules by an aerosol gelation technique (2014)
Journal Article
Rutkevičius, M., Mehl, G. H., Petkov, J. T., Stoyanov, S. D., & Paunov, V. N. (2015). Fabrication of salt–hydrogel marbles and hollow-shell microcapsules by an aerosol gelation technique. Journal of Materials Chemistry B, 3(1), 82-89. https://doi.org/10.1039/c4tb01443j

We designed a new method for preparation of liquid marbles by using hydrophilic particles. Salt–hydrogel marbles were prepared by atomising droplets of hydrogel solution in a cold air column followed by rolling of the collected hydrogel microbeads in... Read More about Fabrication of salt–hydrogel marbles and hollow-shell microcapsules by an aerosol gelation technique.

Flexoelectric behavior of bimesogenic liquid crystals in the nematic phase-observation of a new self-assembly pattern at the twist-bend nematic and the nematic interface (2014)
Journal Article
Balachandran, R., Panov, V. P., Panarin, Y. P., Vij, J. K., Tamba, M. G., Mehl, G. H., & Song, J. K. (2014). Flexoelectric behavior of bimesogenic liquid crystals in the nematic phase-observation of a new self-assembly pattern at the twist-bend nematic and the nematic interface. Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 2(38), 8179-8184. https://doi.org/10.1039/c4tc01043d

Flexoelectric properties - the effective flexoelectric coefficient and flexoelectric polarization - are investigated for a bimesogenic liquid crystal CBC11CB with a twist bend nematic phase (Ntb). Results show that the effective flexoelectric coeffic... Read More about Flexoelectric behavior of bimesogenic liquid crystals in the nematic phase-observation of a new self-assembly pattern at the twist-bend nematic and the nematic interface.

The design and investigation of nanocomposites containing dimeric nematogens and liquid crystal gold nanoparticles with plasmonic properties showing a nematic-nematic phase transition (Nᵤ-Nₓ/Ntb) (2014)
Journal Article
Tamba, M., Yu, C. H., Tang, B. J., Welch, C., Kohlmeier, A., Schubert, C. P., & Mehl, G. H. (2014). The design and investigation of nanocomposites containing dimeric nematogens and liquid crystal gold nanoparticles with plasmonic properties showing a nematic-nematic phase transition (Nᵤ-Nₓ/Ntb). Materials, 7(5), 3494-3511. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma7053494

The construction of liquid crystal compositions consisting of the dimeric liquid crystal, CB_C9_CB (cyanobiphenyl dimer = 1",9"-bis(4-cyanobiphenyl-4'-yl)nonane), and the range of nematic systems is explored. The materials include a laterally functio... Read More about The design and investigation of nanocomposites containing dimeric nematogens and liquid crystal gold nanoparticles with plasmonic properties showing a nematic-nematic phase transition (Nᵤ-Nₓ/Ntb).

Surface alignment, anchoring transitions, optical properties, and topological defects in the thermotropic nematic phase of organo-siloxane tetrapodes (2013)
Journal Article
Kim, Y., Senyuk, B., Shin, S., Kohlmeier, A., Mehl, G. H., & Lavrentovich, O. D. (2014). Surface alignment, anchoring transitions, optical properties, and topological defects in the thermotropic nematic phase of organo-siloxane tetrapodes. Molecular crystals and liquid crystals, 540(1), 20-41. https://doi.org/10.1039/C3SM52249K

We address the status of oxadiazole mesogens, C7 and C12, reported to show the biaxial nematic phase, by exploring material aspects (chemical stability, surface anchoring, optical and dielectric properties, topological defects) linked to the type of... Read More about Surface alignment, anchoring transitions, optical properties, and topological defects in the thermotropic nematic phase of organo-siloxane tetrapodes.

Nematic twist-bend phase with nanoscale modulation of molecular orientation (2013)
Journal Article
Borshch, V., Kim, Y. -., Xiang, J., Gao, M., Jákli, A., Panov, V. P., …Lavrentovich, O. D. (2013). Nematic twist-bend phase with nanoscale modulation of molecular orientation. Nature communications, 4, Article ARTN 2635. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms3635

A state of matter in which molecules show a long-range orientational order and no positional order is called a nematic liquid crystal. The best known and most widely used (for example, in modern displays) is the uniaxial nematic, with the rod-like mo... Read More about Nematic twist-bend phase with nanoscale modulation of molecular orientation.

Sound absorption properties of porous composites fabricated by a hydrogel templating technique (2013)
Journal Article
Rutkevicius, M., Mehl, G. H., Paunov, V. N., Qin, Q., Rubini, P. A., Stoyanov, S. D., & Petkov, J. (2013). Sound absorption properties of porous composites fabricated by a hydrogel templating technique. Journal of Materials Research, 28(17), 2409-2414. https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2013.194

We have used a hydrogel templating technique followed by the subsequent evaporation of water present to fabricate porous cement and porous PDMS composites, and we have analyzed their sound absorption properties. All experiments were carried out with... Read More about Sound absorption properties of porous composites fabricated by a hydrogel templating technique.

Design, synthesis, and characterization of mesogenic amine-capped nematic gold nanoparticles with surface-enhanced plasmonic resonances (2012)
Journal Article
Yu, C. H., Schubert, C. P. J., Welch, C., Tang, B. J., Tamba, M. G., & Mehl, G. H. (2012). Design, synthesis, and characterization of mesogenic amine-capped nematic gold nanoparticles with surface-enhanced plasmonic resonances. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 134(11), 5076-5079. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja300492d

The use of the liquid-crystalline state to control the assembly of large (>5 nm) gold nanoparticles (NPs) is of considerable interest because of the promise of novel metamaterial properties of such systems. Here we report on a new approach for the pr... Read More about Design, synthesis, and characterization of mesogenic amine-capped nematic gold nanoparticles with surface-enhanced plasmonic resonances.

Electrochemistry of organometallic lyotropic chromonic liquid crystals (2012)
Journal Article
Halls, J. E., Bourne, R. W., Wright, K. J., Partington, L. I., Tamba, M. G., Zhou, Y., …Wadhawan, J. D. (2012). Electrochemistry of organometallic lyotropic chromonic liquid crystals. Electrochemistry communications, 19(1), 50-54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elecom.2012.02.032

Two aqueous lyotropic chromonic liquid crystals made from nickel(II) or copper(II) phthalocyananine tetrasulfonic acid tetrasodium salt are prepared with characterisation through optical polarising microscopy, X-ray diffraction and conductivity. Thes... Read More about Electrochemistry of organometallic lyotropic chromonic liquid crystals.

Fabrication of novel lightweight composites by a hydrogel templating technique (2012)
Journal Article
Rutkevicius, M., Munusami, S. K., Watson, Z., Field, A. D., Salt, M., Stoyanov, S. D., …Paunov, V. N. (2012). Fabrication of novel lightweight composites by a hydrogel templating technique. Materials research bulletin, 47(4), 980-986. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.materresbull.2012.01.014

A non-conventional way of preparation of lightweight porous materials by templating hydrogels with a range of hydrophilic and hydrophobic scaffolding materials was explored. Sub-millimetre hydrogel slurries of polyacrylamide and gellan gum were templ... Read More about Fabrication of novel lightweight composites by a hydrogel templating technique.

Addressing fluorescence and liquid crystal behaviour in multi-mesogenic BODIPY materials (2011)
Journal Article
Benstead, M., Rosser, G. A., Beeby, A., Mehl, G. H., & Boyle, R. W. (2011). Addressing fluorescence and liquid crystal behaviour in multi-mesogenic BODIPY materials. New journal of chemistry = Nouveau journal de chimie, 35(7), 1410-1417. https://doi.org/10.1039/c0nj00990c

Two series of BODIPYs (4,4'-difluoro-3a, 4a-diaza-s-indacene) bearing mesogenic substituents have been synthesised and their fluorescent and self-assembly behaviour has been observed and characterised. In order to induce a strong preference for liqui... Read More about Addressing fluorescence and liquid crystal behaviour in multi-mesogenic BODIPY materials.

Mesogenic BODIPYs: An investigation of the correlation between liquid crystalline behaviour and fluorescence intensity (2011)
Journal Article
Benstead, M., Beeby, A., Rosser, G. A., Mehl, G. H., & Boyle, R. W. (2011). Mesogenic BODIPYs: An investigation of the correlation between liquid crystalline behaviour and fluorescence intensity. Photochemical & photobiological sciences : an international journal, 10(6), 992-999. https://doi.org/10.1039/c0pp00388c

A series of mesogenic molecules based on the 4,4¢-di?uoro-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene (BODIPY) ?uorophore have been synthesised and characterised. Each compound consists of one mesogenic unit, based on a cyanobiphenyl core, and one ?uorophore, of varying... Read More about Mesogenic BODIPYs: An investigation of the correlation between liquid crystalline behaviour and fluorescence intensity.

Spontaneous periodic deformations in nonchiral planar-aligned bimesogens with a nematic-nematic transition and a negative elastic constant (2010)
Journal Article
Panov, V. P., Nagaraj, M., Vij, J. K., Panarin, Y. P., Kohlmeier, A., Tamba, M. G., …Mehl, G. H. (2010). Spontaneous periodic deformations in nonchiral planar-aligned bimesogens with a nematic-nematic transition and a negative elastic constant. Physical review letters, 105(16), Article ARTN 167801. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.167801

Hydrocarbon linked mesogenic dimers are found to exhibit an additional nematic phase below the conventional uniaxial nematic phase as confirmed by x-ray diffraction. The phase produces unusual periodic stripe domains in planar cells. The stripes are... Read More about Spontaneous periodic deformations in nonchiral planar-aligned bimesogens with a nematic-nematic transition and a negative elastic constant.

Bridging the visible: the modulation of the absorption by more than 450 nm (2010)
Journal Article
Delbaere, S., Vermeersch, G., Frigoli, M., & Mehl, G. H. (2010). Bridging the visible: the modulation of the absorption by more than 450 nm. Organic Letters, 12(18), 4090-4093. https://doi.org/10.1021/ol101672v

The coexistence of 18 isomers, identified by NMR spectroscopy and gathered into six states with very different absorption properties, is observed upon irradiation with selective wavelengths of a triphotochromic system joining two naphthopyran entitie... Read More about Bridging the visible: the modulation of the absorption by more than 450 nm.

3D ordered gold strings by coating nanoparticles with mesogens (2009)
Journal Article
Zeng, X., Liu, F., Fowler, A. G., Ungar, G., Cseh, L., Mehl, G. H., & Macdonald, J. E. (2009). 3D ordered gold strings by coating nanoparticles with mesogens. Advanced materials, 21(17), 1746-1750. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.200803403

Gold nanoparticles covered with a nematic liquid-crystal ligand laterally attached via a thioalkyl spacer and a thioalkane "diluent" exhibit 3D ordering in strings jacketed by the mesogens with controllable interparticle spacing. The particles form r... Read More about 3D ordered gold strings by coating nanoparticles with mesogens.

A "Kite" Shaped Styryl End-Capped Benzo[2,1-b:3,4-b ']dithiophene with High Electrical Performances in Organic Thin Film Transistors (2008)
Journal Article
Didane, Y., Mehl, G. H., Kumagai, A., Yoshimoto, N., Videlot-Ackermann, C., & Brisset, H. (2008). A "Kite" Shaped Styryl End-Capped Benzo[2,1-b:3,4-b ']dithiophene with High Electrical Performances in Organic Thin Film Transistors. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 130(52), 17681-17683. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja807504k

The bridging of distyryl-bithiophene leads to a kite shape of the conjugated system. This twist is not like twistacenes or twist deformation in α-oligothiophenes but a curvature such as in bowl shaped systems. Initially perceived to be undesirable, t... Read More about A "Kite" Shaped Styryl End-Capped Benzo[2,1-b:3,4-b ']dithiophene with High Electrical Performances in Organic Thin Film Transistors.

Anion-dependent micelle formation using electro-generated ferrocene surfactants (2008)
Journal Article
Evans, L. A., Apreutesei, D., Mehl, G., & Wadhawan, J. (2008). Anion-dependent micelle formation using electro-generated ferrocene surfactants. Electrochemistry communications, 10(11), 1720-1723. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elecom.2008.08.046

The syntheses and characterization of two ferrocene oils, 4-octyloxy-2-{5-[1,1,3,3-tetramethyl-3-(11-oxo-11-ferrocenyl-undecyl)-disiloxanyl]-pentyloxy}-benzoic acid 4'-undecyloxy-biphenyl-4-yl ester, Fc1SiM and an octakis(ferrocene) species, Fc8Si8M'... Read More about Anion-dependent micelle formation using electro-generated ferrocene surfactants.

Mesogenic dipyrrins - building blocks for the fabrication of fluorescent and metal-containing materials (2008)
Journal Article
Wilson, C. J., James, L., Mehl, G. H., & Boyle, R. W. (2008). Mesogenic dipyrrins - building blocks for the fabrication of fluorescent and metal-containing materials. Chemical communications : Chem comm / the Royal Society of Chemistry, 4582-4584. https://doi.org/10.1039/b806672h

A new class of mesogenic dipyrrins is reported and their use in the fabrication of fluorescent and metal-containing self assembling materials is demonstrated.