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Updated: May 26, 2026

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
Substrate-induced crystal plastic phase of a discotic liquid crystal
Gabin Gbabode1, Nicolas Dumont, Florence Quist
1Laboratoire de Chimie des Polymères, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), CP206/1, Boulevard du Triomphe, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
Abstract:
A new phase of a known discotic liquid crystal is observed at the interface with a rigid substrate. The structure of the substrate-induced phase has been characterized by atomic force microscopy, specular X-ray diffraction, and small-angle and wide-angle grazing incidence X-ray diffraction. The substrate-induced phase, which has a thickness of ∼30 nm and a tetragonal symmetry, differs notably from the bulk phase. The occurrence of such phase casts a new light on alignment of discotic liquid crystals.
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