A vast majority of compounds with bent core or banana shaped molecules exhibit the phase sequence B6-B1-B2 as the chain length is increased in a homologous series. The B6 phase has an intercalated fluid lamellar structure with a layer spacing of half the molecular length. The B1 phase has a two dimensionally periodic rectangular columnar structure. The B2 phase has a monolayer fluid lamellar structure with molecules tilted with respect to the layer normal. Neglecting the tilt order of the molecules in the B2 phase, we have developed a frustrated packing model to describe this phase sequence qualitatively. The model has some analogy with that of the frustrated smectics exhibited by highly polar rod like molecules.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1140/epje/e2005-00033-x | DOI Listing |
ACS Nano
January 2025
Institut für Theoretische Physik, TU Wien, Wiedner Hauptstraße 8-10, A-1040 Wien, Austria.
In recent years, experimental and theoretical investigations have shown that anisotropic colloids can self-organize into ordered porous monolayers, where the interplay of localized bonding sites, so-called patches, with the particle's shape is responsible for driving the systems away from close-packing and toward porosity. Until now it has been assumed that patchy particles have to be fully bonded with their neighboring particles for crystals to form, and that, if full bonding cannot be achieved due to the choice of patch placement, disordered assemblies will form instead. In contrast, we show that by deliberately displacing the patches such that full bonding is disfavored, a different route to porous crystalline monolayers emerges, where geometric frustration and partial bonding are decisive process.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAngew Chem Int Ed Engl
January 2025
South China University of Technology, South China Advanced Institute for Soft Matter Science and Technology, South China Advanced Institute for Soft Matter Science and Technology, 510640, Guangzhou, CHINA.
The precise engineering of microporosity is challenging due to the interference at sub-nm scale from unexpected structural flexibility and molecular packing. Herein, the concept of topological supramolecular complexation is proposed for the feasible fabrication of hierarchical microporosity with broad tunability in amorphous form. The 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Nano
January 2025
Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States.
Phys Rev Lett
December 2024
Department of Physics, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario L2S 3A1, Canada.
Based on its simple valence electron configuration, we may expect lithium to have straightforward physical properties that are easily explained. However, solid lithium, when cooled below 77 K, develops a complex structure that has been debated for decades. A close parallel is found in sodium below 36 K where the crystal structure still remains unresolved.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNano Lett
January 2025
School of Physics and Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials of Ministry of Education, Nankai University, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin 300071, China.
The structural properties of packed soft-core particles provide a platform to understand the cross-pollinated physical concepts in solid-state and soft-matter physics. Confined on a spherical surface, the traditional differential geometry also dictates the overall defect properties in otherwise regular crystal lattices. Using molecular dynamics simulation of the Hertzian model as a tool, we report here the emergence of new types of disclination patterns: domain and counter-domain defects, when hexagonal and square patterns coexist.
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