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Updated: Feb 13, 2026

High-Contrast and Fast Photorheological Switching of a Twist-Bend Nematic Liquid Crystal
Published on: October 31, 2019
Spontaneous chirality through mixing achiral components: a twist-bend nematic phase driven by hydrogen-bonding
R Walker1, D Pociecha2, J P Abberley1
1Department of Chemistry, King's College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UE, UK. c.t.imrie@abdn.ac.uk.
Abstract:
The spontaneous formation of a chiral phase via molecular recognition in a system consisting of achiral components is reported. Specifically, the liquid crystalline behaviour of two molecular complexes assembled by hydrogen bonding between a stilbazole-based template and alkoxybenzoic acids has been characterised. The complexes exhibit the heliconical twist-bend nematic phase (NTB) over a broad temperature range despite the hydrogen-bond acceptor not being liquid crystalline and the donor exhibiting the conventional achiral nematic phase.
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