Phase behavior and dynamics of a cholesteric liquid crystal

The synthesis, equation of state, phase diagram, and dielectric relaxation properties are reported for a new liquid crystal, 4′-butyl-4-(2-methylbutoxy)azoxybenzene (4ABO5*), which exhibits a cholesteric phase at ambient temperature. The steepness of the intermolecular potential was characterized from the thermodynamic potential parameter, Γ = 4.3 ± 0.1 and the dynamic scaling exponent, γ = 3.5 ± 0.2. The difference between them is similar to that seen previously for nematic and smectic liquid crystals, with the near equivalence of Γ and γ consistent with the near constancy of the relaxation time of 4ABO5* at the cholesteric to isotropic phase transition (i.e., the clearing line). Thus, chirality does not cause deviations from the general relationship between thermodynamics and dynamics in the ordered phase of liquid crystals. The ionic conductivity of 4ABO5* shows strong coupling to the reorientational dynamics.