Recent cryo-TEM studies in the helical nanofilament (HNF) phase of several bent-core liquid crystal materials having blue structural color showed that in subsequent layers the nanofilaments twist with respect to each other by about 37° angle, leading to a secondary helical structure that can explain their opal appearance. In this paper, after summarizing these observations, we show additional features that help understanding why the same bent-core homologs P-n-O-PIMB with n ≥ 9 do not show structural color.
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