Study of self-assembly behavior and ionic conductivity of conjugated liquid crystals with T-shaped facial-polyphilic structure.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 40378206.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.adt8303 and PMC identifier 12083531.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC.
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Abstract
The unique self-assembly of liquid crystals (LCs), combined with their potential application as organic semiconductors, has become a focus of recent research. Here, a joint experimental and computational study of the self-assembly and ionic conduction was carried out on a series of T-shaped conjugated LCs consisting of three incompatible components. By extending the EOn side-chain length, several experimental evaluations confirmed a decrease of the order-disorder transition temperature, while coarse-grained simulations revealed a structural evolution from a smectic phase to a columnar phase. Ionic conductivity of these molecules was achieved by adding Li salt, leading to a maximum conductivity of 1.1 × 10<sup>-3</sup> siemens per centimeter observed at 120°C. All-atom simulations were performed to examine the Li-ion solvation environment and to evaluate the intrachain and interchain Li-ion hopping mechanisms. The molecule with a long EOn side chain was found to generate a densely distributed network of Li-ion solvation sites, which can facilitate effective interchain hopping to promote ion transport.