Formation of columnar and cubic liquid crystalline phases in the complex of coil-rod-coil molecule containing poly(ethylene oxide) with LiCF3SO3

Abstract

The preparation and thermotropic phase behavior of coil-rod-coil triblock molecule of docosyl 4-(4-oxy-4'-biphenylcarbonyloxy)-4'-biphenyl carboxylate with poly(ethylene oxide) of twelve ethylene oxide subunits (E-12-22) and the complexes of the triblock molecule with LiCF3SO3 are presented. E-12-22 appears to be only a smectic liquid crystalline. However, the complexation of E-12-22 with LiCF3SO3 induces a rich variety of enantiotropic liquid crystalline phases. The complexes of E-12-22 with 0.10-0.30 mol of LiCF3SO3 per ethylene unit of a molecule exhibit successively cubic, columnar and smectic A mesophases on heating. The thermal stability of the mesophase exhibited by the lithium complexes based on each triblock molecule increases with increasing salt concentration.