George Cordoyiannis

Temperature-driven mixing-demixing behavior of binary mixtures of the ionic liquid choline bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide and water.

The ionic liquid (2-hydroxyethylammonium)trimethylammonium) bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (choline bistriflimide) was obtained as a supercooled liquid at room temperature (melting point=30 degrees C). Crystals of choline bistriflimide suitable for structure determination were grown from the melt in situ on the X-ray diffractometer. The choline cation adopts a folded conformation, whereas the bistriflimide anion exhibits a transoid conformation. The choline cation and the bistriflimide anion are held together by hydrogen bonds between the hydroxyl proton and a sulfonyl oxygen atom. This hydrogen bonding is of importance for the temperature-dependent solubility properties of the ionic liquid. Choline bistriflimide is not miscible with water at room temperature, but forms one phase with water at temperatures above 72 degrees C (equals upper critical solution temperature). 1H NMR studies show that the hydrogen bonds between the choline cation and the bistriflimide anion are substantially weakened above this temperature. The thermophysical properties of water-choline bistriflimide binary mixtures were furthermore studied by a photopyroelectric technique and by adiabatic scanning calorimetry (ASC). By photothermal analysis, besides highly accurate values for the thermal conductivity and effusivity of choline bistriflimide at 30 degrees C, the detailed temperature dependence of both the thermal conductivity and effusivity of the upper and lower part of a critical water-choline bistriflimide mixture in the neighborhood of the mixing-demixing phase transition could be determined with high resolution and accuracy. Together with high resolution ASC data for the heat capacity, experimental values were obtained for the critical exponents alpha and beta, and for the critical amplitude ratio G+/G-. These three values were found to be consistent with theoretical expectations for a three dimensional Ising-type of critical behavior of binary liquid mixtures.

Large electrocaloric effect in lead-free K0.5Na0.5NbO3-SrTiO3 ceramics

The electrocaloric effect (ECE), i.e., the adiabatic temperature change ΔTEC, of the lead-free relaxor ferroelectric 0.85K0.5Na0.5NbO3-0.15SrTiO3 (KNN-STO) ceramics is investigated. The ECE data obtained by a direct method show the existence of a large ECE near the temperature of the dielectric permittivity maximum. Due to the high break-down electric field, a large ΔTEC exceeding 1.2 K at 300 K and 1.9 K at 340 K was observed at 159 kV/cm in a broad temperature range of 80 K. Such a high ECE response near the room temperature is comparable to that found in lead-based ceramic materials, thus making KNN-STO a strong candidate to replace lead-based materials in future electrocaloric applications.

Theoretical and experimental study of the nanoparticle-driven blue phase stabilisation

Abstract.We have studied theoretically and experimentally the effects of various types of nanoparticles (NPs) on the temperature stability range

Investigations of phase transitions in liquid crystals by means of adiabatic scanning calorimetry

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Different modulated structures of topological defects stabilized by adaptive targeting nanoparticles

TBP of liquid-crystalline (LC) blue phases. Using a mesoscopic Landau-de Gennes type approach we obtain that the defect core replacement (DCR) mechanism yields in the diluted regime

Blue phase III widening in CE6-dispersed surface-functionalised CdSe nanoparticles

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Presmectic wetting and supercritical-like phase behavior of octylcyanobiphenyl liquid crystal confined to controlled-pore glass matrices.

TBP(x)

The effect of graphene on liquid-crystalline blue phases

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Effect of anisotropic MoS2 nanoparticles on the blue phase range of a chiral liquid crystal.

1/(1 - xb) , where x stands for the concentration of NPs and b is a constant. Our calculations suggest that the DCR mechanism is efficient if a local NP environment resembles the core structure of disclinations, which represent the characteristic property of BP structures. These predictions are in line with high-resolution ac calorimetry and optical polarising microscopy experiments using the CE8 LC and CdSe or aerosil NPs. In mixtures with CdSe NPs of 3.5nm diameter and hydrophobic coating the BPIII stability range has been extended up to 20K. On the contrary, the effect of aerosil silica nanoparticles of 7.0nm diameter and hydrophilic coating is very weak.

High-resolution calorimetric study of the phase transitions of tridecylcyanobiphenyl and tetradecylcyanobiphenyl liquid crystals

High-resolution calorimetric techniques have substantially contributed in characterising and understanding the delicate thermal behaviour near many phase transitions in liquid crystals. In this paper we describe a high-resolution adiabatic scanning calorimetric technique that has proven to be an important tool in discriminating between first-order and second-order phase transitions in addition to rendering high-resolution information on fluctuations-induced pretransitional specific heat capacity behaviour. The capabilities of adiabatic scanning calorimetry are illustrated with experimental results for the isotropic to nematic and the isotropic to smectic A transitions for a series of alkylcyanobiphenyl compounds. For the nematic to smectic A transition results are presented for pure compounds and mixtures of liquid crystals as well as on the effects of added non-mesogenic solutes and nanoparticles. For chiral molecules results for phase transitions involving blue phases and twist grain boundary phases are considered.