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Ionic Switch Induced by a Rectangular-Hexagonal Phase Transition in Benzenammonium Columnar Liquid Crystals.

Bartolome Soberats^1,2, Masafumi Yoshio¹, Takahiro Ichikawa³

¹Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo , 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.

Journal of the American Chemical Society

|September 30, 2015

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Ionic conductivity in liquid-crystalline ammonium salts can be switched by a phase transition. The hexagonal columnar phase shows significantly higher conductivity than the rectangular columnar phase due to ion channel structure.

Area of Science:

Materials Science
Physical Chemistry
Crystallography

Background:

Liquid crystals (LCs) exhibit unique self-assembly properties.
Ionic conductivity in materials is crucial for energy storage and electronics.
Controlling ionic transport in ordered soft materials remains a challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

To demonstrate the switching of ionic conductivities in wedge-shaped liquid-crystalline ammonium salts.
To investigate the relationship between liquid crystalline phases and ionic transport.
To understand the structural basis for conductivity modulation.

Main Methods:

Synthesis of wedge-shaped liquid-crystalline ammonium salts.
Thermodynamic control of phase transitions between rectangular columnar (Colr) and hexagonal columnar (Colh) phases.

Related Experiment Videos

Ionic conductivity measurements.

X-ray diffraction experiments to analyze structural changes.

Main Results:

A thermoreversible phase transition between Colr and Colh phases was successfully utilized for conductivity switching.
Ionic conductivities in the Colh phase were approximately four orders of magnitude higher than in the Colr phase.
X-ray experiments revealed highly ordered ion packing in the Colr phase, hindering ion transport, while the Colh phase facilitates it.

Conclusions:

Switchable ionic conductivity was achieved in liquid-crystalline ammonium salts by exploiting phase transitions.
The observed conductivity switching is attributed to structural rearrangements of ionic channels during phase transitions.
These findings offer a pathway for designing advanced ion-conductive materials with tunable properties.