Anomalous dielectric behavior in the nematic and isotropic phases of a strongly polar–weakly polar binary system

Abstract

We report permittivity studies in the isotropic liquid and anisotropic liquid crystalline (nematic or N) phases of a binary system, in which one component has molecules with a strongly polar longitudinal group, and the other has a weakly polar transverse group. The dielectric constant in the isotropic phase as well as its anisotropy in the N phase show, surprisingly, an anomalous non-monotonic dependence with concentration having a peak-like behavior for 10.2 mol% concentration of the weakly polar constituent. The transition between the two phases, being weakly first order, exhibits pretransitional effects signifying the appearance of the N-like regions in the isotropic phase. The coordinates of the maximum point of the convex shaped temperature-dependence of the dielectric constant in the isotropic phase, characteristic of strongly polar systems, also exhibit a non-monotonic dependence with concentration. Possible causes for these observations are discussed.