Supramolecular control of liquid crystals by doping with halogen-bonding dyes

Jaana Vapaavuori, Antti Siiskonen, Valentina Dichiarante, Alessandra Forni, Marco Saccone, Tullio Pilati, Christian Pellerin, Atsushi Shishido, Pierangelo Metrangolo, Arri Priimagi

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

    19 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Introducing photochromic or polymeric dopants into nematic liquid crystals is a well-established method to create stimuli-responsive photonic materials with the ability to "control light with light". Herein, we demonstrate a new material design concept by showing that specific supramolecular interactions between the host liquid crystal and the guest dopants enhance the optical performance of the doped liquid crystals. By varying the type and strength of the dopant-host interaction, the phase-transition temperature, the order parameter of the guest molecules, and the diffraction signal in response to interference irradiation, can be accurately engineered. Our concept points out the potential of supramolecular interactions in liquid-crystal photonics, being valuable for optimizing the design of dye-doped functional liquid-crystalline systems.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)40237-40242
    JournalRSC Advances
    Volume7
    Issue number64
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2017
    MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

    Funding

    This work is funded by the Academy of Finland (decision numbers 277091 and 312628) and the Emil Aaltonen foundation, whose support A. P. gratefully acknowledges. J. V. acknowledges the Academy of Finland and Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program for generous postdoctoral funding. We are thankful to CSC–IT Center for Science Ltd., administered by the Finnish Ministry of Education, for providing the computing resources for this work.

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