Partially Disordered Crystal Phases and Glassy Smectic Phases in Liquid Crystal Mixtures
Three liquid crystalline mixtures were investigated, consisting of compounds abbreviated as MHPOBC and 3F5FPhF6 with molar ratios 0.9:0.1 (MIX5FF6-1), 0.75:0.25 (MIX5FF6-2), and 0.5:0.5 (MIX5FF6-3). The presence of the smectic A*, smectic C*, and smectic C<sub>A</sub>* phases was observed in all mixtures. The hexatic smectic X<sub>A</sub>* phase, present in pure MHPOBC, disappeared quickly with an increasing admixture of 3F5FPhF6. Vitrification of smectic C<sub>A</sub>* was observed for the equimolar mixture, with the glass transition temperature and fragility index comparable to the pure glassforming 3F5FPhF6 component. Partial crystallization to conformationally or orientationally disordered crystal phases was observed on cooling in two mixtures with a smaller fraction of 3F5FPhF6. Broadband dielectric spectroscopy was applied to study the relaxation times in smectic and crystal phases. Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann, Mauro-Yue-Ellison-Gupta-Allan, and critical-like models were applied for analysis of the α-relaxation time in supercooled smectic X<sub>A</sub>* and smectic C<sub>A</sub>* phases.
Authors
- Ewa Juszyńska‐Gałązka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3964-0721)
- Magdalena Urbańska (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6824-363X)
- Anna Drzewicz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1483-5645)
- Aleksandra Deptuch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7451-5563)
Institutions
- Military University of Technology in Warsaw (PL)
- Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences (PL)
- The University of Osaka (JP)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Materials
- Published
- 2025-06-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18133085
- Primary Topic
- Liquid Crystal Research Advancements
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Narodowe Centrum Nauki