2023/08/02 by Abinash Barthakur, Jakub Karcz, Barthakur, Abinash +5
Chemistry · Materials Science · #FOS: Physical sciences #Liquid Crystal Research Advancements #Material Dynamics and Properties #Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft) #Surfactants and Colloidal Systems
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2308.01934
openalex publication_date 2023/08/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Twist-bend (Ntb) and ferroelectric (NF) nematic liquid crystals exhibit several novel effects and new physical properties. The question of what happens in binary mixtures is interesting as a matter of curiosity and pure science. Here, we report experimental studies on the phase diagram and some physical properties of binary mixtures of the above-mentioned nematic liquid crystals. Both N-Ntb and N-NF phase transition temperatures and the corresponding enthalpies decrease significantly and eventually, these transitions disappear in some intermediate compositions. Temperature dependent birefringence above the N-Ntb phase transition temperature shows critical behaviour, and the critical range of the tilt fluctuations becomes wider in the mixtures. The magnitudes and the temperature dependence of the splay elastic constant of the mixtures' high-temperature nematic (N) phase strikingly differ from that of the pristine twist-bend and ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals. The study shows that Ntb and NF liquid crystals are incompatible.