Micro-segregated layer structures generated by liquid crystalline dimers possessing an oligo(ethylene glycol) spacer and two terminal alkyl chains

Liquid crystalline dimers consisting of two rodlike cores, two terminal alkyl chains and an oligo(ethylene glycol) spacer were synthesized. Their phase behaviors and structures were investigated by polarized optical micrograph (POM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). These liquid crystalline dimers generated unconventional smectic layer structures in which the alkyl and oligo(ethylene glycol) chains micro-segregated in the chain layers.