Substrate-induced crystal plastic phase of a discotic liquid crystal.

Adv Mater

Laboratoire de Chimie des Polymères, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), CP206/1, Boulevard du Triomphe, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.

Published: February 2012

A new phase of a known discotic liquid crystal is observed at the interface with a rigid substrate. The structure of the substrate-induced phase has been characterized by atomic force microscopy, specular X-ray diffraction, and small-angle and wide-angle grazing incidence X-ray diffraction. The substrate-induced phase, which has a thickness of ∼30 nm and a tetragonal symmetry, differs notably from the bulk phase. The occurrence of such phase casts a new light on alignment of discotic liquid crystals.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adma.201103739DOI Listing

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