Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Sheffield University, Sheffield, S1 3JD, UK.
Department of Physics, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Xiasha College Park, Hangzhou, 310018, China.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2018 Mar 5;57(11):2835-2840. doi: 10.1002/anie.201712812. Epub 2018 Jan 31.
The so-called smectic-Q (SmQ) liquid crystal phase was discovered in 1983 in rod-like molecules, but its structure remain unclear in spite of numerous attempts to solve it. Herein, we report what we believe to be the solution: A unique bicontinuous phase that is non-cubic and is made up of orthogonal twisted columns with planar 4-way junctions. While SmQ had only been observed in chiral compounds, we show that this chiral phase forms also in achiral materials through spontaneous symmetry breaking. The results strongly support the idea of a helical substructure of bicontinuous phases and long-range homochirality being sustained by helicity-matching at network junctions. The model also explains the triangular shape of double-gyroid domains growing within a SmQ environment. SmQ-forming materials hold potential for applications such as circularly polarized light emitters that require no alignment or asymmetric synthesis.
所谓的近晶-Q（SmQ）向列相于 1983 年在棒状分子中被发现，但尽管进行了多次尝试，其结构仍不清楚。在此，我们报告我们认为的解决方案：一种独特的双连续相，它不是立方的，由具有平面 4 向结的正交扭曲柱组成。虽然 SmQ 仅在手性化合物中观察到，但我们表明，这种手性相也通过自发对称破缺在非手性材料中形成。结果强烈支持双连续相的螺旋亚结构和通过网络结的螺旋匹配维持长程同手性的观点。该模型还解释了在 SmQ 环境中生长的双连续型畴的三角形形状。形成 SmQ 的材料具有应用潜力，例如无需对准或不对称合成的圆偏振光发射器。
