0000000000385238
AUTHOR
Pia Deindörfer
Gelation of smectic liquid crystal phases with photosensitive gel forming agents.
This paper studies the potential of 3 newly synthesized low molecular weight gelling agents (2 of them with azo groups) with the semicarbazide group as a H-bonding motif to gel the smectic phase of a commercial chiral smectic C material. To detect gelation two methods were used: the stabilization of the director pattern, which measures the interaction of the physical gel network with the LC-director, and the suppression of the onset of electrohydrodynamic instabilities, which measures the increase of viscosity. Special emphasis was put on the influence of the photochemical - isomerization of the gelling agents on gelation.From the stabilization of the director pattern an elastic component c…
Photoresponsive anisotropic and isotropic gels of semicarbazide-azobenzene organogelators: the use of magnetic polymer colloids to detect gel-sol transformation.
Photoinduced gel-sol transformation of semicarbazide-azobenzene-based organogels containing entrapped organic solvents (isotropic gel) and liquid-crystalline material (anisotropic gel) has been studied. Thin films (4 µm) of gel materials were used to study the gel-sol transformation, as thicker films possess high absorbance due to the relatively high concentration of the gelator molecules. Photoinduced trans-cis isomerization of the azobenzene units causes destruction of the gel structure, and the consequent change in viscosity has been investigated employing magnetic polymer colloids. In the gel state the movement of the colloids is restricted due to their entrapment within the gel fibers …
Semicarbazides as gel forming agents for common solvents and liquid crystals
This paper describes the synthesis of 14 new gelling agents with semicarbazide groups as H-bonding motifs and alkyl- and/or azobenzene side groups. They gel solvents like decaline, 1,2-dichlorobenzene and toluene and liquid crystalline mixtures. X-Ray structure analysis shows that the semicarbazides are connected by H-bonds, each molecule to four neighbours. As a result a ribbon is formed with a core of H-bonded semicarbazide groups and alkyl chains sticking to the side. IR measurements show an unchanged H-bonding motif in large crystals and in the gel fibres, even in LC-mixture. During heating the gel melts (rheology), while the H-bonding motif of the crystal disappears (IR and DSC measure…