Effects of cyclic heating and cooling on the banana-phase growing behaviors of banana-shaped liquid crystal 1,3-phenylene-bis4-(4-octyl phenylimino)methylbenzoate

摘要

The effects of cyclic heating and cooling on the banana-phase growth behaviors of the prototype banana-shaped liquid crystal l,3-phenylene-bis[4-(4-octylphenylimino)methyl]benzoate were investigated with differential scanning calorimetry and polarized optical microscopy, respectively. Cyclic heating and cooling can reduce the phase transition temperatures and increase the domain sizes of the banana phases of the banana-shaped liquid crystal. These results can be interpreted in terms of the nucleation and growth of the banana phases out of its isotropic phase of the banana-shaped liquid crystal.