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Chiral bent mesogens exhibit preferred twist-bend liquid crystal phases matching particle chirality. Doping achiral systems with chiral particles also selects the matching twist-bend phase, revealing distinct chirality transfer mechanisms.

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Area of Science:

  • Materials Science
  • Physical Chemistry
  • Soft Matter Physics

Background:

  • Liquid crystals exhibit diverse phases based on molecular shape and interactions.
  • Chirality in molecules can significantly influence liquid crystalline phase behavior.
  • Understanding molecular chirality effects is crucial for designing advanced materials.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the influence of molecular chirality on the liquid-crystalline phase behavior of bent rod-like mesogens.
  • To explore the relationship between particle chirality and the handedness of resulting liquid crystal phases.
  • To examine chirality transfer mechanisms in different liquid crystalline phases.

Main Methods:

  • Molecular simulations were employed to model mesogen behavior.
  • Classical density functional theory was used to analyze phase formation.
  • A series of bent rod-like mesogens with varying degrees of chirality were studied.

Main Results:

  • In achiral systems, isotropic, nematic, twist-bend nematic, and smectic phases were observed.
  • Introducing chirality broke the symmetry of twist-bend phases, favoring the same handedness as the particles.
  • Cholesteric phases exhibited opposite handedness to the particles, indicating different chirality transfer mechanisms.

Conclusions:

  • Molecular chirality strongly dictates the preferred liquid crystalline phase handedness in bent mesogens.
  • Doping achiral systems with chiral particles selectively induces the twist-bend phase with matching chirality.
  • The study highlights distinct mechanisms of chirality transfer in cholesteric and twist-bend liquid crystal phases.