MECHANICAL PERTURBATION INDUCED MOLECULAR ALIGNMENTS IN A SIDE-CHAIN LIQUID CRYSTALLINE POLYACETYLENE, POLY{10-[4-(4'-METHOXYPHENOXY-CARBOML)PHENOXYCARBONYL]-1-DECYNE}

A new liquid crystalline polyacetylene containing a phenyl benzoate mesogen (5) is synthesized,whose mesomorphic properties are found to be easily 'tunab1e' by simple mechanical perturbation. Thepolymerization of 10- [ 4 - (4' -methoxyphenoxycarbonyl )phenoxycarbonyl] - 1 -decyne (4 ) in itiated by theWCl_6-Ph_4Sn/dioxane complex yields polymer 5 with a M_w of 28400. The molecular structure of 5 ischaracterized by NMR, IR, and UV spectroscopy and its liquid crystalline behavior is investigated by DSC,POM, and XRD analysis. Upon mechanical perturbation, 5 exhibits unusual agitation-induced high-strengthdisclinations, shear-induced inversion walls, and solidification-induced banded textures. Such phenomenahave been observed in the main-chain liquid crystalline polymers with rigid backbones, but have seldom beenreported for the side-chain liquid crystalline polymers with flexible backbones, suggesting that the rigidpolyacetylene backbone of 5 plays a constructive role in inducing the novel molecular alignments.

MORPHOLOGICAL AND KINETIC STUDIES OF PHASE TRANSITIONS OF A SIDE-CHAIN LIQUID CRYSTALLINE POLYMER

The morphological changes of a side-chain liquid-crystalline polymethacrylate during isotropization and liquid-crystallization transitions were studied by means of polarizing microscopy. These transitions were found to be composed of the initiation of a new phase at local places of the old phase matrix and the growth of the new phase: domains. The kinetics of the liquid-crystallization of the polymer from an isotropic melt to a smectic mesophase was also investigated. The isothermal process of the transition can be described by the Avrami equation. The values of the Avrami exponent were found to be around 2.6. which is lower than the value usually obtained for crystallization transition of polymers, but larger than that reported for liquid-crystallization transition of main-chain polymers. These results may indicate the difference in growth geometry of new phase during transition between crystallization and liquid-crystallization in general and between liquid-crystallization of main-chain and side-chain polymers. It was found that the liquid-crystallization of the used side-chain polymethacrylate may occur at small undercoolings with high transformation rate similar to that of main-chain polymers and small-molecule liquid crystals, while the crystallization of polymers can only proceed at large undercoolings. These phenomena can be explained by the idea that the surface free energy of nucleus during liquid-crystallization transition is less than that for crystallization, and evidence was obtained from analysis of the temperature dependence of the transformation rate.

MORPHOLOGICAL STUDIES OF A THERMOTROPIC SIDE-CHAIN LIQUID CRYSTALLINE POLYMER DURING MESOPHASE TRANSITIONS

The morphological features of a side-chain liquid crystalline polymer during the mesophase transitions were investigated by using the DSC technique. The polymer used was polyacrylate with mesogens of three benzene rings attached to the main chain through a flexible spacer. A special two-phase texture was observed in the transition temperature range. Similar to main-chain liquid crystalline polymers the transition process of the side-chain liquid crystalline polymer was composed of an initiation of the new phase at local places of the old phase matrix and a growth process of the new phase domains.

Syntheses and Characterization of New Chiral Side-Chain Liquid Crystalline Polysiloxanes

A new serial chiral side-chain liquid crystal polysiloxanes containing L-Tyr structures were synthesized at room temperature. Both of them exhibited Sc phase at room temperature.

STUDY ON MAGNETIC FIELD-INDUCED 0RIENTATI0N OF A CHIRAL SIDE-CHAIN LIQUID CRYSTAL POLYACRYLATE USING INFRARED DICHROISM

Magnetic field-induced orientation of a chiral side chain liquid crystalline polyacrylate(P-11) was studied by using IR dichroism. For the investigated P-11, it has been shown thatthe magnetic alignment takes place over the entire temperature range between its meltingpoint and clearing point and the orientation level is strongly temperature-dependent, thedevelopment with time of the magnetic orieatation follows an exponeotial-type relation,and the smectic phase state influences the thermal relaxation process in the absence of themagnetic field.

Stability analysis of a liquid crystal elastomer self-oscillator under a linear temperature field

Self-oscillating systems abound in the natural world and offer substantial potential for applications in controllers,micro-motors,medical equipments,and so on.Currently,numerical methods have been widely utilized for obtaining the characteristics of self-oscillation including amplitude and frequency.However,numerical methods are burdened by intricate computations and limited precision,hindering comprehensive investigations into self-oscillating systems.In this paper,the stability of a liquid crystal elastomer fiber self-oscillating system under a linear temperature field is studied,and analytical solutions for the amplitude and frequency are determined.Initially,we establish the governing equations of self-oscillation,elucidate two motion regimes,and reveal the underlying mechanism.Subsequently,we conduct a stability analysis and employ a multi-scale method to obtain the analytical solutions for the amplitude and frequency.The results show agreement between the multi-scale and numerical methods.This research contributes to the examination of diverse self-oscillating systems and advances the theoretical analysis of self-oscillating systems rooted in active materials.

ENERGY CONSERVATION FOR THE WEAK SOLUTIONS TO THE 3D COMPRESSIBLE NEMATIC LIQUID CRYSTAL FLOW

In this paper,we establish some regularity conditions on the density and velocity fields to guarantee the energy conservation of the weak solutions for the three-dimensional compressible nematic liquid crystal flow in the periodic domain.

THE EXISTENCE AND UNIQUENESS OF TIME-PERIODIC SOLUTIONS TO THE NON-ISOTHERMAL MODEL FOR COMPRESSIBLE NEMATIC LIQUID CRYSTALS IN A PERIODIC DOMAIN

In this paper,we are concerned with a three-dimensional non-isothermal model for the compressible nematic liquid crystal flows in a periodic domain.Under some smallness and structural assumptions imposed on the time-periodic force,we establish the existence of the time-periodic solutions to the system by using a regularized approximation scheme and the topological degree theory.We also prove a uniqueness result via energy estimates.

Multi-dimensional multiplexing optical secret sharing framework with cascaded liquid crystal holograms

Secret sharing is a promising technology for information encryption by splitting the secret information into different shares.However,the traditional scheme suffers from information leakage in decryption process since the amount of available information channels is limited.Herein,we propose and demonstrate an optical secret sharing framework based on the multi-dimensional multiplexing liquid crystal(LC)holograms.The LC holograms are used as spatially separated shares to carry secret images.The polarization of the incident light and the distance between different shares are served as secret keys,which can significantly improve the information security and capacity.Besides,the decryption condition is also restricted by the applied external voltage due to the variant diffraction efficiency,which further increases the information security.In implementation,an artificial neural network(ANN)model is developed to carefully design the phase distribution of each LC hologram.With the advantage of high security,high capacity and simple configuration,our optical secret sharing framework has great potentials in optical encryption and dynamic holographic display.

WEAK-STRONG UNIQUENESS FOR THREE DIMENSIONAL INCOMPRESSIBLE ACTIVE LIQUID CRYSTALS

The hydrodynamics of active liquid crystal models has attracted much attention in recent years due to many applications of these models.In this paper,we study the weak-strong uniqueness for the Leray-Hopf type weak solutions to the incompressible active liquid crystals in R^(3).Our results yield that if there exists a strong solution,then it is unique among the Leray-Hopf type weak solutions associated with the same initial data.

Multiple Effects Tailoring the Self-organization Behaviors of Triphenylene Side-chain Liquid Crystalline Polymers via Changing the Spacer Length

Long-alkyl tail triphenylene （TP） side-chain liquid crystalline polymers （SCLCPs） with different spacer length （P-m-TP, m = 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, which is the number of carbon atom in the flexible alkyl spacers） have been successfully synthesized via free radical polymerization. The differential scanning calorimetry （DSC）, polarized light microscopy （POM）, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy （UV- Vis）, wide-angle X-ray diffraction （WAXD） and small-angle X-ray scattering （SAXS） measurements were performed to investigate the influence of multiple effects on the self-organization behaviors of P-m-TP, including steric effect, decoupling effect and π-π stacking effect. The experimental results revealed that P-m-TP （m = 2, 3, 4） formed the columnar phase which was developed by the TP moieties and the main chain as a whole, suggesting that the side-chains had strong steric effect even though the number of spacer length （m） exceeded 4. In addition, the clearing points （Tis） of the polymers were above 300 ℃. When m = 6 and 8, the polymers displayed hexagonal columnar phase and exhibited the low Tis （91 and 80 ℃ respectively）, originating from the self-assembly of triphenylene due to the decoupling effect and π-π stacking effect. This work offers a viable and inspiring pathway to control the phase transition temperature and phase structure ofTP SCLCPs via simply tailoring the spacer length and increasing the alkyl tail length of TP.

Flat multifunctional liquid crystal elements through multi-dimensional information multiplexing

Flat optical elements have attracted enormous attentions and act as promising candidates for the next generation of optical components.As one of the most outstanding representatives,liquid crystal(LC)has been widely applied in flat panel display industries and inspires the wavefront modulation with the development of LC alignment techniques.However,most LC elements perform only one type of optical manipulation and are difficult to realize the multifunctionality and light integration.Here,flat multifunctional liquid crystal elements(FMLCEs),merely composed of anisotropic LC molecules with space-variant orientations,are presented for multichannel information manipulation by means of polarization,space and wavelength multiplexing.Specifically,benefiting from the unique light response with the change of the incident polarization,observation plane,and working wavelength,a series of FMLCEs are demonstrated to achieve distinct near-and far-field display functions.The proposed strategy takes full advantage of basic optical parameters as the decrypted keys to improve the information capacity and security,and we expect it to find potential applications in information encryption,optical anti-counterfeiting,virtual/augmented reality,etc.

A review of liquid crystal spatial light modulators:devices and applications

Spatial light modulators,as dynamic flat-panel optical devices,have witnessed rapid development over the past two decades,concomitant with the advancements in micro-and opto-electronic integration technology.In particular,liquid-crystal spatial light modulator(LC-SLM)technologies have been regarded as versatile tools for generating arbitrary optical fields and tailoring all degrees of freedom beyond just phase and amplitude.These devices have gained significant interest in the nascent field of structured light in space and time,facilitated by their ease of use and real-time light manipulation,fueling both fundamental research and practical applications.Here we provide an overview of the key working principles of LC-SLMs and review the significant progress made to date in their deployment for various applications,covering topics as diverse as beam shaping and steering,holography,optical trapping and tweezers,measurement,wavefront coding,optical vortex,and quantum optics.Finally,we conclude with an outlook on the potential opportunities and technical challenges in this rapidly developing field.

Singularity Formation forthe General Poiseuille Flow of Nematic Liquid Crystals

We consider the Poiseuille flow of nematic liquid crystals via the full Ericksen-Leslie model.The model is described by a coupled system consisting of a heat equation and a quasilinear wave equation.In this paper,we will construct an example with a finite time cusp singularity due to the quasilinearity of the wave equation,extended from an earlier resultonaspecial case.

DIPOLE POLARIZATION RELAXATION AND MOLECULAR STRUCTURE OF MAIN-AND SIDE-CHAIN LIQUID-CRYSTALLINE POLYMERS

Molecular mobility in thermotropic polyesters and side-chain polymers with different struc-ture of mesogens and spacers has been studied by dielectrical method in dilutesolutions. The results made it possible to establish the multiplicity of dielectric relaxationtransitions which reflects the small- and large-scale types of molecular motion. It was shownthat dielectric relaxation processes occurring in accordance with local mechanism (relaxationtimes 10^(-9)--10^(-7)s. and the activation energy 10--50kJ/mol) are due to the mobility of kineticchain elements of different length within a monomer units. It was found that the dielectricrelaxation process connected with a large-scale form of molecular motion (relaxation times10^(-5)--10^(-6)s. and the activation energy 100kJ/mol) did not depend on the molecular massbut was infiuenced by factors changing the conformational state of the macromolecule. It isestablished tha the cooperative reorientation mobility of associated mesogenic fragments isthe source of the large-scale process.

Dptic properties of bile liquid crystals in human body

AIM To further study the properties of bileliquid crystals,and probe into the relationshipbetween bile liquid crystals and gallbladderstone formation,and provide evidence for theprevention and treatment of cholecystolithiasis.METHODS The optic properties of bile liquidcrystals in human body were determined by themethod of crystal optics under polarizingmicroscope with plane polarized light andperpendicular polarized light.RESULTS Under a polarizing microscope withplane polarized light,bile liquid crystalsscattered in bile appeared round,oval orirregularly round.The color of bile liquidcrystals was a little lighter than that of the bilearound.When the stage was turned round,thecolor of bile liquid crystals or the darkness andlightness of the color did not change obviously.On the border between bile liquid crystals andthe bile around,brighter Becke-Line could beobserved.When the microscope tube is lifted,Becke-Line moved inward,and when lowered,Becke-Line moved outward.Under aperpendicular polarized light,bile liquid crystalsshowd some special interference patterns,called Malta cross.When the stage was turninground at an angle of 360°,the Malta cross showed four times of extinction.In the vibratingdirection of 45° angle of relative to upper andlower polarizing plate,gypsum test-board withoptical path difference of 530 nm was inserted,the first and the third quadrants of Malta crossappeared to be blue,and the second and thefourth quadrants appeared orange.When micatest-board with optical path difference of 147 nmwas inserted,the first and the third quadrants ofMalta cross appeared yellow,and the secondand the fourth quadrants appeared dark grey.CONCLUSION The bile liquid crystals weredistributed in bile in the form of global grains.Their polychroism and absorption were slight,but the edge and Becke-Line were very clear.Itsrefractive index was larger than that of the bile.These liquid crystals were uniaxial positivecrystals.The interference colors were the firstorder grey-white.The double refractive index ofthe liquid crystals was △n=0.011-0.015.

Synthesis and characterization of non-symmetrical liquid crystals containing a cholesteryl ester moiety

In this paper, a series of chiral non-symmetrical liquid crystals （nBA-chol） consisting of a cholesteryl ester moiety as chiral entity and a biphenyl aromatic core with different terminal alkyl chain has been synthesized and investigated for their liquid crystalline properties. Effects of numbers of methylene units in the terminal alkyl chain on the phase transition temperatures and on the temperature-dependent pitch lengths of the chiral liquid crystals have been studied. The long terminal alkyl chain tends to exhibit smectic A mesophases. The pitch lengths of the cholesteric mesophases of the chiral liquid crystals decrease with increasing temperature and with increasing numbers of methylene units in the terminal alkyl chain, respectively.

GLOBAL EXISTENCE OF WEAK SOLUTIONS TO THE NON-ISOTHERMAL NEMATIC LIQUID CRYSTALS IN 2D

In this article, we prove the global existence of weak solutions to the non- isothermal nematic liquid crystal system on T2, on the basis of a new approximate system which is different from the classical Ginzburg-Landau approximation. Local in space energy inequalities are employed to recover the estimates on the second order spatial derivatives of the director fields locally in time, which cannot be derived from the basic energy balance. It is shown that these weak solutions satisfy the temperature equation, and also the total energy equation but away from at most finite many ＂singular＂ times, at which the energy concentration occurs and the director field losses its second order derivatives.

Facile synthesis and characterization of novel thermo-chromism cholesteryl-containing hydrogen-bonded liquid crystals

Two series of novel cholesteryl-containing H-bonded liquid crystals were prepared through facile self-assembly between cholesteryl isonicotinate （proton acceptor） exhibiting a monotropic cholesteric phase, and the 4-alkoxy-benzoic acid or 4-alkoxy cinnamic acid （proton donor）. It was found that the increase of the conjugate length as well as the terminal length can contribute to enhance the interaction of molecules and thus significantly influenced the thermal behaviors of H-bonded LCs. The cholesteric reflection spectra of the induced mesogenic complexes were located in the visible region with the color tuneable thermo-sensitivity, which could be used for display application.

Mechanical model study of relationship of molecular configuration and multiphase in liquid crystal materials

A mechanical model of liquid crystals （LCs） is applied to study the polymorphism of homologous series of terphenyl compounds. With a senti-experimental molecular orbit method, we calculate the moment of inertia which represents the rotation state to describe the phase transition temperature obtained from experimental data. We propose a novel explanation of the phase sequence or polymorphism of LC materials using the two key parameters, the moment of inertia and critical rotational velocity. The effect of molecular polarity on the appearance of liquid crystalline is also discussed.