New ionic liquid crystals based on azobenzene moiety with two symmetric imidazolium ion group substituents

Abstract Imidazolium‐substituted azobenzene liquid crystal derivatives were synthesised and their chemical structures were determined by 1H NMR, 13C NMR and UV spectroscopy and elemental analysis. The liquid crystalline properties pf the new compounds were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, polarising optical microscopy and powder X‐ray diffraction. The monomer DC10 was found to exhibit a monolayer smectic C (SmC) phase with schlieren texture on both heating and cooling. The effects of ionic interactions as well as the length of the alkyl chains on the mesophase are discussed. The results indicate that ionic interactions between imidazolium groups are the driving force for the formation of the monolayer SmC phase, the thermal stability of which is enhanced. Keywords: ionic liquid crystalsynthesisazobenzene derivativeimidazolium substituentsmectic phaseschlieren texture Acknowledgements The authors gratefully acknowledge NSFC and Department of Science and Technology of Jilin Province, China for their financial supports (No.20673109 and No.20050102).