John W. Goodby

Investigations of the thermotropic liquid-crystalline properties of 6,6′-di-O-stearoylsucrose show, for the first time, that glycolipids can exhibit phase transitions within the smectic A phase.

A group of chiral nematic multipedal materials based on pentaerythritol containing two types of mesogenic sub-units were synthesised. The presence of different types of mesogens, the topology of the attachment to the core (end-on and side-on) and the chemical nature of the linking connection to the PE scaffold (ether, ester and tetramethyldisiloxane moieties) were used to tailor the mesomorphic properties. The related uniform tetramers have also been studied. The materials were characterised by a variety of techniques including ¹H, ¹³C, ²⁹Si NMR spectroscopy, SEC, MALDI-TOF MS, DSC and POM. The crystalline state was found to be suppressed for most of the materials once they had experienced a first isotropisation process; all exhibited glass transitions near room temperature and accompanying wide temperature range mesophases. The parent supramolecular system carrying just terminally appended mesogens exhibited the smectic A phase, whereas the alternative parent material carrying only laterally attached chiral mesogens exhibited the chiral nematic phase.

Liquid crystals represent a unique class of self‐organising systems, which although found in many day‐to‐day practical material applications, such as displays, are also intimately entwined with living processes. They have the potential, just like living systems, to provide us with a unique vehicle for the development of self‐ordering nano‐ and mesoscopic‐engineered materials with specific functional properties. In this article we describe a new concept for the design of self‐assembling functional liquid crystals as segmented or “Janus” liquid‐crystalline supermolecular materials in the form of structures that contain two different types of mesogenic units, which favour different types of mesophase structure, grafted onto the same star‐shaped scaffold to create supermolecules that contain different hemispheres. The materials exhibit chiral nematic and chiral smectic C phases.

A new family of non-acrylate UV cured three-dimensional polymeric networks for coatings and adhesives based on the photoinitiated cyclopolymerization of diallylamine salts and diallylamides using a low power (75 W) UVA domestic sunlamp is described.

A new class of “Janus” liquid crystal compounds has been prepared with molecular weights in excess of 4000 D, but which have better temperature ranges with respect to room temperature than the revolutionary commercial material 4′-pentyl-4-cyanobiphenyl (5CB).

Self-organising, functional materials created by bottom-up synthesis represent important steps forward in the development of novel materials, here we report on the preparation and properties of a chiral nematic tetrapedal liquid crystal that has been functionalised with C₆₀.