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Updated: Jun 7, 2026

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
Ion channels and anisotropic ion mobility in a liquid-crystalline columnar phase as observed by multinuclear NMR
Anton E Frise1, Sergey V Dvinskikh, Hiroyuki Ohno
1Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
Abstract:
The anisotropic diffusion of anions and cations in the columnar and isotropic phases of a fan-shaped imidazolium hexafluorophosphate salt is measured by (1)H and (19)F diffusion NMR experiments. The macroscopic orientation of the columnar phase is investigated by (2)H NMR spectroscopy. We find that the anions, confined by the cations, diffuse faster than the cations along the columns but slowly across them, which exemplifies the ion channel model of these materials. The cations and anions are dissociated in the columnar phase but are paired or clustered in the isotropic phase.
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