Song Yaohao, Li Jinxing, Xia Runli, Xu Hao, Zhang Xinxin, Lei Huanyu, Peng Weifeng, Dai Shuqi, Aya Satoshi, Huang Mingjun
South China Advanced Institute for Soft Matter Science and Technology (AISMST), School of Emergent Soft Matter, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China.
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional and Intelligent Hybrid Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China.
Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2022 May 18;24(19):11536-11543. doi: 10.1039/d2cp01110g.
The emerging ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals have been attracting broader interests in new liquid crystal physics and their unique material properties. One big challenge for the ferroelectric nematic research is to enrich the material choice, which is now limited to and families as representatives, in sharp contrast to the enormously diverse variety of the traditional apolar nematic liquid crystals. Here, we report a design of novel ferroelectric nematic materials with highly fluorinated and rigid mesogens. Noteworthily, they show distinct chemical structural features compared with previous aromatic ester-based molecules. The ferroelectric nematic phase was identified and confirmed through rigorous experiments. The bulk polarization was found to become purely along the long axis director, creating giant dielectric anisotropy. This work demonstrates a great potential for expanding ferroelectric nematic material diversity and will accelerate the corresponding application research and technology innovation.
新兴的铁电向列型液晶因其独特的材料特性，在新的液晶物理学领域引发了更广泛的关注。铁电向列型研究面临的一大挑战是丰富材料选择，目前材料选择仅限于以 和 族为代表的材料，这与传统非极性向列型液晶种类的极大多样性形成鲜明对比。在此，我们报道了一种具有高度氟化和刚性介晶基元的新型铁电向列型材料的设计。值得注意的是，与之前基于芳族酯的分子相比，它们呈现出独特的化学结构特征。通过严格的实验鉴定并确认了铁电向列相。发现体极化完全沿长轴指向矢方向，产生巨大的介电各向异性。这项工作展示了扩展铁电向列型材料多样性的巨大潜力，并将加速相应的应用研究和技术创新。
