Meet the editor

Dr. Irina Cârlescu holds a PhD degree (2005) in Organic Chemistry from "Gheorghe Asachi" Technical University of Iaşi, Romania. She has also completed postdoctoral studies at "Politehnica" University of Timișoara and "Gheorghe Asachi" Technical University of Iaşi, Romania. In 2009 she became an assistant professor and since 2016 an associate professor. Her teaching activity covers organic chemistry, biochemistry, and research strategy

courses. Dr. Cârlescu was involved in research projects sponsored by the Ministry of Research and Innovation, Romania, and she is the coauthor of one book as well as the coauthor of scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals. She was a reviewer for Medicinal Chemistry Research and Applied Sciences. Her research interests include synthesis and characterization of liquid crystals with applications in optoelectronics, synthesis of azo materials for biological applications, synthesis of glycoconjugates drug release, and ferrocene derivatives.

**Preface III**

Introduction **1**

**Chapter 1 3**

Self-Assembling Soft Functional Materials: Structure and Phase Behavior **11**

**Chapter 2 13**

**Chapter 3 33** Binary Mixture Composed of Nematic Liquid Crystal and Carbon Nanotubes:

**Chapter 4 49** In-Plane Retardation Switching Behavior at Certain Types of Smectic Liquid

**Chapter 5 71**

**47**

Bent-Core Liquid Crystals: Structures and Mesomorphic Properties *by Dan Scutaru, Irina Carlescu, Elena-Raluca Bulai (Cioanca), Catalina Ionica Ciobanu, Gabriela Lisa and Nicolae Hurduc*

Electro-Optic Switching Behavior and Photorefractive Effect in

*by Takeo Sasaki, Khoa Van Le, Yumiko Naka and Takafumi Sassa*

**Section 1**

**Section 2**

**Section 3**

Crystals

*by Irina Carlescu*

Contents

A Theoretical Description

Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals

*by Akihiro Mochizuki*

*by Vlad Popa-Nita and Robert Repnik*

The Photorefractive Effect in Liquid Crystals

Introductory Chapter: Liquid Crystals

## Contents


Preface

Liquid crystals (LCs) are amazing compounds that self-organize into ordered soft states, being presently indispensable for nanotechnological applications. Molecular shape and intermolecular interactions, together with nanosegregation of the molecular structure, contribute thereby to their self-assembly into thermodynamically stable functional materials. *Liquid Crystals - Self-Organized Soft Functional Materials for Advanced Applications* is focused on both theoretical models and experimental results, pointing out the chemical and physical properties (thermodynamics, electro-optic switching behavior, and non-linear optic phenomena) of LCs that could be applicable to a wide range of devices. In this respect, the chapters

• phase and structural behavior of thermotropic LCs used to align carbon nano-

• molecular alignment of smectic layers and photorefractive effect in the ferroelectric phase, which have the potential to be used as transistors in electrical circuits or could be exploited for image storage and optical signal processing.

The chapter by Scutaru et al. presents the structure and supramolecular ordering behavior of symmetrical and asymmetrical bent-core LCs. The purpose was to design LCs with large mesophase intervals on low transition temperatures, which might expand the field of electro-optical applications. The chapter by Popa-Nita and Repnik shows the theoretical model for the phase behavior and orientational properties of a binary mixture composed of CNTs into thermotropic nematic LCs. The chapter by Mochizuki describes the relationship between tilted smectic layer structure and electro-optic properties, considering in-plane and out-of-plane retardation switching behavior. The last chapter by Sasaki et al. reviews the effect of LC mixtures on response time and gain coefficient, required for the formation of a

Because of the possibility of using such materials for a wide range of applications, the study of LCs presents both theoretical and practical importance. It is expected that the book will be of interest for researchers in academia and industries, as well

I would like to express my gratitude to all authors for their contributions to this book.

**Assoc. Prof. Irina Carlescu**

Romania

"Gheorghe Asachi" Technical University of Iasi,

• chemical structure and phase transitions in bent-core LCs,

refractive index grating in a photorefractive device.

cover the following topics:

tubes (CNTs),

as advanced students.
