About Book

Liquid crystals are all around us, in high-strength plastics, snail slime, laundry detergent, textile fibers such as silk and kevlar, crude oil, insect wings, mineral slurries, lipstick, bose–einstein condensates and the mantles of neutron stars. We eat them as aligned molecules in gluten and drink them as phospholipids in milk, where they stabilize fat globules. In our bodies they transport fats, make up cell membranes, and affect the functioning of hair cells in the inner ear, and even of DNA. Liquid crystals are matter in a state that has properties between those of conventional liquid and those of solid crystal. Liquid crystals combine the material properties of solids with the flow properties of fluids. The characteristic useful feature of liquid crystals, exemplified by liquid-crystal displays (LCDs), is their exceptional responsivity to excitations. Many liquid crystals consist of elongated molecules. This book aims to shed light on the unexplored aspects of liquid crystals. It uses a rigorous process where liquid crystals are evaluated for effective outputs in the most scientific and systematic way. It deals with radical liquid crystals, ionic liquids, nanoparticles, pyridinium salts, energy storage systems, lyotropic liquid crystals, photonic crystals, mesomorphic properties and spatial light modulators. The various sub-fields of liquid crystals along with technological progress that have future implications are glanced at in this book. The topics included in this book are of utmost significance and bound to provide incredible insights to readers. For someone with an interest and eye for detail, this book covers the most significant developments related to this field.

Preface............................................................................................................v

Chapter 1 Introductory Chapter: Liquid Crystals..................................................1

1. Introduction............................................................................................1

Chapter 2 Introductory Chapter: Whither Liquid Crystals?..............................10

1. Introduction..........................................................................................10

2. Liquid crystal properties...................................................................11

3. Application-oriented R&D.................................................................11

4. Liquid crystal-based fibers................................................................12

5. Liquid crystals for band gap features............................................13

6. Other miscellaneous applications and summary..........................13

Chapter 3 Bent-Core Liquid Crystals: Structures and Mesomorphic Properties....................................................................................................17

Abstract.................................................................................................17

1. Introduction..........................................................................................18

2. Relationship between structure and liquid crystalline

properties..............................................................................................21

3. Conclusions..........................................................................................34

Conflict of interest..............................................................................35

Chapter 4 Liquid Crystals for Responsible Photonic Crystals.........................41

Abstract ................................................................................................41

1. Introduction..........................................................................................41

2. Self-organized PCs and PBG tuning based on LCs.....................42

3. Conclusion............................................................................................53

Chapter 5 Lyotropic Liquid Crystals Incorporated with Different Kinds of

Carbon Nanomaterials or Biomolecules..............................................59

Abstract.................................................................................................59

1. Introduction..........................................................................................59

2. Carbon nanotubes/LLC hybrid materials.......................................60

3. Graphene (or graphene oxide)/LLC hybrid materials.................66

4. Manipulation of LLC behavior of amphiphilic molecules by

biomolecules.........................................................................................71

5. Conclusion and outlook.....................................................................74

Acknowledgements.............................................................................74

Chapter 6 Ionic Liquids/Ionic Liquid Crystals for Safe and Sustainable

Energy Storage Systems..........................................................................81

Abstract.................................................................................................81

1. Introduction..........................................................................................81

2. As electrolytes for energy storage systems...................................87

3. Conclusions........................................................................................101

Chapter 7 Ionic Liquid Crystals Based on Pyridinium Salts..........................112

Abstract...............................................................................................112

1. Introduction........................................................................................112

2. Monocationic pyridinium ionic liquid crystals...........................115

3. Dicationic bis(pyridinium) and polycationic pyridinium

salts......................................................................................................132

Acknowledgements...........................................................................136

Chapter 8 Mixtures Composed of Liquid Crystals and Nanoparticles........144

1. Introduction........................................................................................144

2. Binary nematogen - nonnematogen mixtu-res............................148

3. Dispersions of carbon nanotubes...................................................155

4. Conclusions........................................................................................165

Acknowledgments.............................................................................167

Chapter 9 Magnetic and Electric Properties of Organic Nitroxide Radical

Liquid Crystals and Ionic Liquids.....................................................170

1. Introduction........................................................................................170

2. First-generation of rod-like all-organic NR LCs.........................174

3. Second-generation of rod-like all-organic NR LCs .................176

4. NR Ionic Liquids (ILs).....................................................................187

5. Conclusions and prospects..............................................................188

Acknowledgement.............................................................................189

Chapter 10 Using the Liquid Crystal Spatial Light Modulators for Control of Coherence and Polarization of Optical Beams................................195

1. Introduction ......................................................................................195

2. Fundamentals of the unified theory of coherence and

polarization.........................................................................................196

3. Elements of the theory and design of LC-SLMs........................198

4. Techniques for control of coherence and polarization by means

of LCSLMs..........................................................................................203

5. Measurements of coherence and polarization.............................212

6. Experiments and results..................................................................214

7. Conclusion .........................................................................................216

8. Acknowledgment .............................................................................216

Citation......................................................................................................219

Index...........................................................................................................221

About Author

Rosemary Clements obtained her Ph.D. in Physics from Science University, Toowoomba. She is a Visiting Professor at University College, Dunedin. Her research interests are in the area of organic nitroxide radical liquid crystals, crystals and nanoparticles. She has contributed numerous articles on photorefractive ferroelectric, ionic liquid crystals and photonic crystals. She has been the recipient of two awards for her research work in the field of Physics. Clements has presented over 15 papers at international symposiums and conferences. She has also been an eminent speaker in seminars across Europe, United States and Asia.