Dresden 2017 – scientific programme
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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik
CPP 42: Charged Soft Matter, Ionic Liquids and Polyions I
CPP 42.9: Talk
Wednesday, March 22, 2017, 17:30–17:45, ZEU 114
Insights on the diversity of smectic phases in ionic liquid crystals — •Hendrik Bartsch1,2, Markus Bier1,2, and Siegfried Dietrich1,2 — 1Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany — 2Institute of Theoretical Physics IV, University of Stuttgart, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
Ionic liquid crystals (ILCs) can be described as anisotropic molecules, which carry charges and therefore combine properties of liquid crystals, e.g. mesophases,
and ionic fluids, e.g. low melting temperatures and tiny
triple-point pressures. However, the combination of both,
orientational degrees of freedom and electrostatics renders
a particular challenge for theoretical studies.
Recently a promising model of ILCs has been proposed
and studied within the framework of density functional theory [1]. It turns out, that the phase diagram is strongly affected by the molecules’ properties, i.e. the length-to-breath ratio, the position of charges and the interaction strengths. Here, we report on very recent findings on the phase behavior of ILCs obtained by means of density functional theory and Monte Carlo simulations.
The most striking is the occurrence of a novel, second smectic A phase at low temperature, whose layer spacing is larger than that of the ordinary high-temperature smectic A phase and increasing upon decreasing temperature at constant packing fraction or pressure.
[1] S. Kondrat, M. Bier, and L. Harnau, J. Chem. Phys. 132, 184901 (2010)