Arrays of giant octagonal and square cylinders by liquid crystalline self-assembly of X-shaped polyphilic molecules

Feng Liu, Robert Kieffer, Xiangbing Zeng, Karsten Pelz, Marko Prehm, Goran Ungar () and Carsten Tschierske ()
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Feng Liu: University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield S1 3JD, UK.
Robert Kieffer: Institute of Chemistry, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg
Xiangbing Zeng: University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield S1 3JD, UK.
Karsten Pelz: Institute of Chemistry, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg
Marko Prehm: Institute of Chemistry, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg
Goran Ungar: University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield S1 3JD, UK.
Carsten Tschierske: Institute of Chemistry, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg

Nature Communications, 2012, vol. 3, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Nanopatterning by molecular self-assembly has been a topic of intense research in pursuit of 'bottom-up' methods of generating structures for use in nanotechnology. The systems most widely studied have been two- and three-dimensional morphologies of block copolymers. However, T- and X-shaped polyphilic liquid crystals have recently been shown to have great potential for generating soft honeycomb-like structures, surpassing those of polymers in both complexity and degree of order. The cell cross-section of the liquid crystals honeycombs has so far been limited by small molecular size. Here we overcome this limitation by exploiting the inability of the polyphiles to simultaneously achieve optimal packing and complete nanophase separation. This frustration results in a two-dimensional periodic honeycomb consisting of giant octagonal and square cylinders with circumferences of 12 and 8 molecules, respectively. In addition to forming large cells, the two-molecule-long bendy walls give this structure extra versatility and stability.

Date: 2012
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2096

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