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Organisationseinheit der BAM
Collective Orientational Order and Phase Behavior of a Discotic Liquid Crystal under Confinement
(2018)
Discotic liquid crystals (DLCs) are a promising class of soft matter for electronic applications. This is due to their ability to self-organize into columns in a hexagonal columnar mesophase, driven by the overlapping of the π orbitals of their aromatic cores. This leads to a high charge-carrier mobility along the column axis. Previous studies on DLCs showed that their properties, such as phase transition temperatures and enthalpies, are susceptible to nanoconfinement. In this study, 2,3,6,7,10,11 hexakis[hexyloxy] triphenylene (HAT6) was confined into parallel aligned cylindrical nanopores of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes by melt infiltration. Furthermore, the pore surfaces of a series of membranes were chemically modified, resulting in a more hydrophobic pore surface than the unmodified ones. Collective orientational order and phase behavior of HAT6 confined into modified and unmodified nanopores of AAO were investigated by broadband dielectric spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry respectively.
Discotic liquid crystals (DLC) filled into cylindrical nanopores exhibit a liquid crystalline phase with their molecules arranged in hexagonal columns. The columns orient perpendicular (radially) or parallel (axially) with respect to the pore axis depending on surface anchoring conditions and pore size. Axially oriented columns enable the fabrication of organic nanowires utilizing the high conductivity in the stacking direction due to overlapping π-electrons. This leads to interesting applications in e.g. organic semiconductorbased devices. The molecular ordering of the liquid crystalline columns can be probed by temperature dependent optical retardation measurements supplemented by X-ray diffraction sensitive to the translational order.
We investigated the DLC 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11 - hexakis [hexyloxy] triphenylene (HAT6) embedded in nanoporous alumina and silica membranes as function of the pore diameter (12 nm - 180 nm). Due to their hydrophilic nature porous membranes enforce face-on anchoring leading to a radial orientation. To obtain edge-on anchoring conditions, and thus favoring axial orientation, the silica membrane surface is chemically modified. The optical retardation measurements show that the columns orient radially in these membranes independent of the anchoring conditions. Interestingly, a quantized phase transition of each molecular layer is found indicated by a distinct increase of the optical orientation. Additionally, an axial orientation of HAT6 filled into alumina membranes with a pore diameter of 25 nm is achieved. A Landau-de Gennes ansatz semi-quantitatively describes the phase transition behavior observed. X-ray diffraction experiments performed at the 3rd generation synchrotron radiation source PETRA III at DESY giving detailed information about the translational order support these findings. Summarizing, this study shows the existence of a phase transition in the molecular range as well as the suitability of the membrane with 25 nm pores as a template for preparing organic nanowires.
Successful implementation of an optical polarimetry measurement setup. Due to wall anchoring interactions HAT6 embedded in an untreated alumina membrane exhibits a radial orientation for pore sizes in between 30 nm and 80 nm. Embedded in large membranes, pore size of 180 nm, HAT6 forms the favored hexagonal columnar phase along the pore axis.