Effect of Surface Free Energy on Stacking of Discotic Molecules in the Columnar Phase

摘要

Discotic liquid crystals that consist of disc-like molecules can form columnar phase through self-assembly. The molecular stacking of disc-like molecules in the columnar phase on a variety of substrates with different surface free energies has been observed. In the molecular stacking, the surface free energy of the substrate plays an important role that determines the way the molecules anchor at the surface. On a surface with high free energy , the discotic molecules stack to form columns with the uniaxial face-on orientation. On a surface with low free energy , the edge-on anchoring of molecules is observed , and the discotic columns are organized with in plane homogeneous alignment.