Helical Pitch Length Research Articles

Frequency response of dielectric relaxation modes in a room temperature antiferroelectric phase liquid crystalline mixture

Thermodynamic, optical, and electrical characterization of a newly formulated mixture of chiral mesogenic molecules has been carried out. The material exhibits different mesophases like paraelectric smectic (SmA*), ferroelectric chiral smectic (SmC*) with synclinic structure, and wide temperature range antiferroelectric chiral smectic (SmCa*) with anticlinic structure. These studies show that at room temperature, the SmCa* phase is present in a wide temperature range of ∼128 °C (from −35.0 °C to 92.6 °C) followed by the SmC* phase (from 92.6 °C to 110.8 °C) as well as SmA* phase (from 110.8 °C to 113.9 °C). Besides the wide temperature range, the SmCa* phase has also been optimized for high helical pitch length, which is useful for helix unwound cells through surface stabilization for application. Frequency-dependent dielectric parameters have been determined for the material in the frequency range of 1 Hz to 40 MHz. The dielectric spectroscopy shows six different relaxation modes in various phases due to the collective and individual molecular behavior. The SmA* phase exhibits soft mode relaxation associated with variations in the amplitude of the tilt angle. The identified soft mode is significantly temperature-dependent. Using the Curie-Weiss law, the transition temperature for the paraelectric SmA* phase to the ferroelectric SmC* phase (Tc) is found to be 111.4 °C. Two relaxation modes in the SmC* phase have been identified Goldstone mode and a domain mode. These modes have extremely high dielectric strength resulting in high permittivity in comparison with other modes. Three modes of relaxation have been detected in the antiferroelectric SmCa* phase. Different characteristic parameters of these modes are strongly temperature-dependent. This study signifies that the present room-temperature antiferroelectric liquid crystals may be a potential candidate for display applications.

Crystal structure simulation of cationic cholesteric Liquid-Crystal polyesters. Non-Viral vectors

The crystal structure of six cationic cholesteric liquid crystal polyesters with choline, ammonium, and amide end groups are reported: PTOBEE-Choline [(C26H20O8)n-C5H13N]; PTOBDME-Choline [(C34H36O8)n-C5H13N]; PTOBEE-Ammonium [(C26H20O8)n-C5H13N]; PTOBDME-Ammonium [(C34H36O8)n-C5H13N]; PTOBEE-Amide (C26H19O9N)n and PTOBUME-Amide (C33H33O9N)n, have demonstrated non-viral vector properties in gene therapy by delivering DNA to the cell nucleus. They were synthesized by functionalization of precursor racemic polyesters via a condensation reaction between 4,4′-(terephthaloyl-di-oxydibenzoic chloride) (TOBC) and the racemic mixture of glycol (R-S-1,2-butanediol) or (R-S-1,2-dodecanediol), respectively. The resulting helical macromolecular structures exhibit unexpected optical activity and chiral morphology, previously attributed to the kinetic resolution of one preferable helical conformer of the possible four observed by NMR. Conformational analysis and energy minimization are performed on the four helical conformer monomeric models which are then polymerized to obtain helical chains. Three levels of chirality were observed in these polymer structures. Crystal models are built in triclinic primitive P1cells, with their molecular chains oriented parallel to the Z-axis (c lattice parameter equal to the helical pitch length), the cell parameters are obtained by performing geometry optimization tasks. A raw estimation of the relative weight of the four possible helical conformers on each synthetic cationic polymer has been performed on ideal mixtures considering their approximate known crystal structure with their experimental X-ray powder diffraction by Powder Quantitative Phase Analysis. The results would confirm the theory of the preferable recrystallization of a diastereoisomer, among the four possible, during the synthetic procedures. These findings shed light on the observed optical activity and provide insights into the crystal structure of these cationic polymers. The morphology of the cationic polymers is studied by ESEM in wet samples and crystals after drying the solvent.

Numerical simulation of the hydrodynamics in a novel jet loop bubble column with helical sieve tapes

Hydrodynamics and mixing in a novel down-flow jet loop reactor (DFJLR) with an internal helical sieve tape (HST) were studied by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. A helical sieve tape inside the draft tube caused a significant portion of the gas bubbles to flow helically, which increased radial mixing, overall gas holdup, axial liquid velocity, and turbulent kinetic energy. Compared with a similar reactor without a helical sieve tape, the gas holdup in reactors with a helical tape or a helical sieve tape inside the draft tube was increased, respectively, by 50 % and 75 %. A helical sieve tape with an area ratio of 27 % and helical pitch length of 492 mm was efficient in increasing gas holdup while keeping a lower pressure drop. Data and designs presented in this work will give insight and further understanding for reactor scale-up as a function of geometry and flow patterns for industrial applications.

The comparison of self-assembling behaviour of phenyl biphenylcarboxylate and biphenyl benzoate compounds with the different length and shape of chiral terminal chain

Our recent advances on polymer-stabilised orthoconic antiferroelectric liquid crystals (PSOAFLCs) eliminated the asymmetry of switching times in electro-optical effect based on surface stabilized OAFLCs and paved the way for their effective use in many photonic and optoelectronic devices requiring very fast switching. To fabricate new modifications of PSOAFLCs, besides bi- and tetrafunctional monomers, multicomponent AFLCs mixtures with a very low meting point, high stability of the antiferroelectric phase at lower temperatures and higher helical pitch length are desirable. Herein, a very convenient synthetic method of new AFLC compounds with a phenyl biphenylcarboxylate structure of the rigid core with different length and shape of terminal chains is reported. The resulting mesomorphic properties and helical parameters are compared with those of analogues with a biphenyl benzoate structure of the rigid core. The designed AFLC compounds clearly possess definite advantages. Specifically, they exhibit lower meting points, higher clearing points, broader temperature range of the antiferroelectric phase (SmCA*) and much longer helical pitch length, especially for analogues with the shortest achiral terminal chain, but unexpectedly lower tendency to give the direct transition between the antiferroelectric and isotropic phase. The introduction of the cycloalkyl ring at the end of the chiral terminal chain increases the melting points, flattens the temperature dependence of the helical pitch and changes the sense of the helical twist, but also enhances the ability of the direct SmCA*-Iso phase transition, regardless the type of the rigid core. The obtained results highlight a possibility of utilizing compounds with the phenyl biphenylcarboxylate structure of the rigid core, designed under this work, together with previously prepared compounds with the biphenyl benzoate rigid core to formulate multicomponent OALFC mixtures with a very low melting point and a very high helical pitch length.

Light-Reconfiguring Inhomogeneous Soft Helical Pitch with Fatigue Resistance and Reversibility.

Active engineering and modulation of optical spectra in a remote and fully reversible light is urgently desired in photonics, chemistry, and materials. However, the real-time regulation of multiple optical information such as wavelength, bandwidth, reflectance, and polarization is still a longstanding issue due to the lack of an appropriate photoresponsive candidate. Herein, we propose an additional "degree-of-freedom (DOF)" in a photo-modulated soft helix, and build up an unprecedented inhomogeneous helical pitch length with light-reconfiguring property, fatigue resistance, and reversibility. For the working model, the intrinsic chiral photoswitch LBC5 is employed as an actuator to modulate the helical pitch length, which is proportional to the irradiation intensity, and the unique broadband absorbance photo-modulator BTA-C5 is incorporated as an attenuator of the transmitted light to decrease its intensity along the sample thickness, therefore successfully adding another controlled DOF on the pitch length distribution (i.e., homogeneous or inhomogeneous) apart from the common soft helix with only a single DOF on the pitch length. The absorbance photo-modulator BTA-C5 with a unique variable broadband absorption enables the light to reconfigure the helical pitch from homogeneous to inhomogeneous, thereby achieving the robust fatigue-resistance establishment of reversible spectral programming. The established light-reconfigurable inhomogeneous helical pitch with the photoresponsive modulator BTA-C5 can provide a breakthrough to control absorbance and chirality, especially for dynamically broadening and narrowing the bandwidth on demand, and further enable the ever-desired broadband NIR circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) with a high dissymmetry factor glum of up to 1.88. The cutting-edge photoswitchable inhomogeneous soft helical pitch provides access to multi-freedom control in soft materials, optics, biophotonics, and other relevant fields.

Physical relationship between resonant frequency and structure parameters of a normal mode helix dipole antenna for an ultra-high frequency radio frequency identification tag thread

The thread-based ultra-high frequency radio frequency identification (UHF RFID) tag with a normal mode helix dipole antenna (NMHDA) shows great potential in anti-theft and implant wireless sensors; for the engineered and digitized design of the high-performance tag, it is necessary to know the physical relationship between the resonant frequency and structure parameters of the NMHDA. Previous work for the design of the NMHDA structure is based on the self-resonant principle, that is, zero port reactance, while the port impedance of the NMHDA in the UHF RFID tag thread at resonant frequency is ideally conjugate matching to the chip. Under the requirement of conjugate matching, this study built the physical relationship between the resonant frequency and structural parameters of the NMHDA (helical radius, helical pitch, and single arm length) by linking the chip impedance with the NMHDA impedance. Meanwhile, the reported equivalent impedance model of the NMHDA, consisted of a lumped inductor and a linear dipole antenna, was utilized and modified by considering the distributed capacitance deviation from the NMHDA geometry simplification as part of the lumped inductor. Finally, the physical relationship was put into practice for the design of an UHF RFID tag thread with expected resonant frequency, and the long reading range of the prototype (over 14 m) demonstrated the rationality of the modification. In addition, the discussion on the structure parameter of the NMHDA clarified the efficiency of our proposed method. Generally, the built physical relationship explicitly gives the physical effects of the structural parameters and provides a parametric method for the structure design of a NMHDA for the UHF RFID tag thread.

Cellulose Nanocrystals' Assembly under Ionic Strength Variation: From High Orientation Ordering to a Random Orientation.

We discuss the effect of the ionic strength and effective charge density on the final structural organization of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) after drying suspensions with different ionic strengths in terms of quantitative characteristics of the orientation order, rarely considered to date. We observed that increasing the ionic strength in the initial suspension results in continuous shrinking of the helical pitch length that shifts the photonic band gap to a far UV region from the visible range (from 400 to 250 nm) because of the increase in the helical twisting power from 4 to 6 μm-1 and doubling of the twisting angle between neighboring monolayers from 5.5 to 9°. As our estimation of the Coulombic interactions demonstrates, the reduction of the Debye charge screening length below a critical value of 3 nm results in the loss of the long-range helicoidal order and the transition to a disordered morphology with random packing of nanocrystals. Subsequently, very high orientation ordering with the 2D orientation factor, S, within the range 0.8-0.9, close to the theoretical limit of 1, gradually decreased to a very low value of S = 0.1-0.2, a characteristic of random organization at high ionic strength. We suggest that the loss of the chiral ordering is a result of the reduction of repulsive forces, promoting direct physical contact with the reduced contact area during Brownian motion, combined with increased repulsive Coulombic interactions of nanocrystals at nonparallel local packing. Notably, electrolyte addition enhances chiral interactions to the point where the helical twisting power is too large and the resulting nanocrystal bundles can no longer compactly pack without creating unfavorably large free volume. We propose that the Debye charge screening length in suspensions can be used as a universal parameter for CNCs under different conditions and can be used to assess expected ordering characteristics in the solid films.

Static Permittivity and Electro-Optical Properties of Bi-Component Orthoconic Antiferroelectric Liquid Crystalline Mixtures Targeted for Polymer Stabilized Sensing Systems.

The behavior of two newly formulated bi-component orthoconic antiferroelectric liquid crystalline (OAFLC) systems, i.e., the Compound A + Compound B mixture system and Compound C + Compound B mixture system has been discussed in light of temperature and concentration dependencies of helical pitch length, spontaneous polarization, relaxation time, bulk viscosity, and the anchoring energy strength coefficient, together with static dielectric permittivity (ε) and dielectric anisotropy. Compound A + Compound B mixtures possess spontaneous polarization between 190–340 nC.cm−2 and fast relaxation times between 190–320 µs in the smectic antiferroelectric SmCA* phase at room temperature. Compound C + Compound B mixtures also have a spontaneous polarization in the range of 190–280 nC.cm−2 and relaxation times in the range of 190–230 µs at room temperature. Most of the mixtures have a helical pitch below one micrometer in the SmCA* phase. These advanced mixtures show a broad temperature range of the antiferroelectric SmCA* phase, fast switching of molecules under an applied electric field, negative dielectric anisotropy and a short helical pitch, confirming the advantage of designing new polymer-stabilized OAFLC that is targeted for novel application in sensing devices, utilizing the fast responsive electro-optical modulation elements.

New quaterphenyls laterally substituted by methyl group and their influence on the self-assembling behaviour of ferroelectric bicomponent mixtures

ABSTRACT Design of new functional binary mixtures possessing the self-assembling behaviour remains a highlighted task in order to tune the resulting properties of soft materials according to specific application demands. Three new chiral compounds with a quaterphenyl core substituted by the methyl group in different positions and having different linkage groups between the chiral chain and the rigid core were synthesised and used as smart dopants to the basic compound possessing a highly tilted orthoconic ferroelectric smectic phase. The main aim is to establish the effect of the miscibility on the basic parameters of the resulting binary mixtures, specifically on the mesomorphic behaviour, values of the spontaneous polarisation, tilt angle, helical pitch length and dielectric behaviour. As the quaterphenyl dopants differ between each other in the linkage group placed between the chiral chain and the rigid core, these compounds influence physical parameters of the resultant mixtures in a different way. A small amount of quaterphenyl dopants does not considerably decrease the tilt angle, but in the case of the -O- atom presence, it results in a visible decrease of the spontaneous polarisation and increase of the helical pitch length. However, in the case of the -COO- group presence, it increases spontaneous polarisation and decreases the helical pitch (<200 nm).

38‐6: Transparent Display with High‐Contrast‐Ratio Reverse‐Mode PDLC

A chiral liquid crystal containing reverse mode PDLC (Ch‐R‐PDLC), which showed transparent state at 0V, was prepared. This Ch‐R‐PDLC achieved both low voltage driving and strong scattering simultaneously by optimizing the helical pitch length of the chiral liquid crystals and by using original mixtures of liquid crystals and monomers. Transmittance of the Ch‐R‐PDLC was 80% at 0V and 5% at 7V, which was comparable to the normal scattering type. This driving voltage was low enough to employ widely used drivers. A Ch‐R‐PDLC display that was bright in the ON state and highly transparent in the OFF state was also demonstrated.

Twist-Bend Nematic Glasses: The Synthesis and Characterisation of Pyrene-based Nonsymmetric Dimers.

A selection of pyrene-based liquid crystal dimers have been prepared, containing either methylene-ether or diether linked spacers of varying length and parity. All the diether linked materials, CBOnO.Py (n=5, 6, 11, 12), exhibit conventional nematic and smectic A phases, with the exception of CBO11O.Py which is exclusively nematic. The methylene-ether linked dimer, CBnO.Py, with an even-membered spacer (n=5) was solely nematogenic, but odd-members (n=6, 8, 10) exhibited both nematic and twist-bend nematic phases. Replacement of the cyanobiphenyl fragment by cyanoterphenyl giving CT6O.Py, gave elevated melting and nematic-isotropic transition temperatures, and SmA and SmCA phases were observed on cooling the nematic phase. Intermolecular face-to-face associations of the pyrene moieties drive glass formation, and all these materials have a glass transition temperature at or above room temperature. The stability of the glassy twist-bend nematic phase allowed for its study using AFM, and the helical pitch length, PTB , was measured as 6.3 and 6.7 nm for CB6O.Py and CB8O.Py, respectively. These values are comparable to the shortest pitch of a twist-bend nematic phase measured to date.

Inchworm Stepping of Myc-Max Heterodimer Protein Diffusion Along DNA

Oncogenic protein Myc serves as a transcription factor to control cell metabolisms. Myc dimerizes via leucine zipper with its associated partner protein Max to form a heterodimer structure, which then binds target DNA sequences to regulate gene transcription. The regulation depends on Myc-Max binding to DNA and searching for target sequences via diffusional motions along DNA. Here, we conduct structure-based molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the diffusion dynamics of the Myc-Max heterodimer along DNA. We found that the heterodimer protein slides on the DNA in a rotation-uncoupled manner in coarse-grained simulations, as its two helical DNA binding basic regions (BRs) alternate between open and closed conformations via inchworm stepping motions. In such motions, the two BRs of the heterodimer step across the DNA shows strand one by one, with step sizes reaching about half of a DNA helical pitch length. Atomic MD simulations of the Myc-Max heterodimer in complex with DNA have also been conducted. Hydrogen bond interactions are revealed between the two BRs and two complementary DNA strands, respectively. In the non-specific DNA binding, the BR from Myc an onset of stepping on one association DNA strand and starts detaching from the other strand. Overall, our simulation studies suggest that the inchworm stepping motions of the Myc-Max heterodimer can be achieved during the protein diffusion along DNA.

Glycomacrocycle-Based Azobenzene Derivatives as Chiral Dopants for Photoresponsive Cholesteric Liquid Crystals.

We demonstrate photoresponsive cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) doped with glycomacrocyclic azobenzene derivatives, which exhibit large conformational changes, providing dynamic control of helical superstructures in response to a light stimulus. An unprecedented shortening of the helical pitch length and the empowerment of helical twisting power up to 500% are observed upon trans (E) to cis (Z) photoisomerization. Light-driven dynamic helix twisting and untwisting behavior affords the first example of glycomacrocyclic azobenzene-based CLCs, which can drive the mechanical movement of micro-objects. Two modes of rotation-two-directional or one-directional rotational motion (crankshaft mode)-are realized. In particular, the latter mode based on the reversible cholesteric texture transition between homogeneous stripes and focal conics leads to the accumulation of the rotation angles achieving the amplified mechanical movements.

Inchworm stepping of Myc-Max heterodimer protein diffusion along DNA

Oncogenic protein Myc serves as a transcription factor to control cell metabolisms. Myc dimerizes via leucine zipper with its associated partner protein Max to form a heterodimer structure, which then binds target DNA sequences to regulate gene transcription. The regulation depends on Myc-Max binding to DNA and searching for target sequences via diffusional motions along DNA. Here, we conduct structure-based molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the diffusion dynamics of the Myc-Max heterodimer along DNA. We found that the heterodimer protein slides on the DNA in a rotation-uncoupled manner in coarse-grained simulations, as its two helical DNA binding basic regions (BRs) alternate between open and closed conformations via inchworm stepping motions. In such motions, the two BRs of the heterodimer step across the DNA strand one by one, with step sizes reaching about half of a DNA helical pitch length. Atomic MD simulations of the Myc-Max heterodimer in complex with DNA have also been conducted. Hydrogen bond interactions are revealed between the two BRs and two complementary DNA strands, respectively. In the non-specific DNA binding, the BR from Myc shows an onset of stepping on one association DNA strand and starts detaching from the other strand. Overall, our simulation studies suggest that the inchworm stepping motions of the Myc-Max heterodimer can be achieved during the protein diffusion along DNA.

An experimental study on dynamic ice accretion and its effects on the aerodynamic characteristics of stay cables with and without helical fillets

An experimental investigation was conducted to examine the effects of helical fillets on dynamic ice accretion process over the surfaces of bridge stay cables and evaluate its effects on the aerodynamic characteristics of the stay cables under both dry rime and wet glaze icing conditions. The experimental study was performed in the Icing Research Tunnel of Iowa State University (i.e., ISU-IRT). Four bridge stay cable models, including a standard plain cable model and three helical filleted cable models of different helical pitch lengths, were used for the experimental investigation. During the experiment, in addition to using a high-speed imaging system to record the dynamic ice accretion process over the cable surfaces, a Digital Image Projection (DIP) based 3D scanning system was also utilized to quantify the 3D shapes of the ice structures accreted on the test models. While a high-resolution digital Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) system was used to characterize the wake flows behind the cable models during the ice accreting process, the time variations of the aerodynamic drag forces acting on the test models were also measured by using a pair of force/moment transducers mounted at two ends of the cable models. It was found that, under the rime icing condition, the helical filleted cable models accreted more ice structures than the standard plain cable model. However, the helical filleted cable models were found to have less ice accretion under the wet glaze icing condition. The pitch length of the helical fillets was also found to affect the ice accretion process substantially. Under the rime icing condition, while the aerodynamic drag forces acting on the cable models were found to decrease continuously with more rime ice accreting over the cable surfaces, the drag reduction due to the rime ice accretion was found to be less obvious for the helical filleted cable models, in comparison with that obtained for the standard plain cable model. Under the glaze icing condition, the aerodynamic drag forces acting on the cable models were found to decrease quickly at the initial stage of the glaze icing process, and then increase gradually with the increasing ice accretion time at the later stage of the ice accreting process. PIV flow field measurements were correlated with the force measurement data to elucidate the underlying physics for a better understanding of the variation characteristics of the aerodynamic forces acting on the cable models under different icing conditions.

Structure optimization of an ultrahigh frequency radio frequency identification tag thread based on the normal mode helix dipole antenna

This paper describes the design of a novel ultrahigh frequency radio frequency identification (UHF RFID) tag thread that mainly consisted of the common yarn and the normal mode helix dipole antenna. The linear dipole antenna for the UHF RFID tag thread was too long to miniaturize the tag. In order to maximize the read performance and miniaturize the size of the tag, the basic antenna structure parameters, such as the helical pitch and single arm length, were optimized by analyzing the radiation parameter S11 of the normal mode helix dipole antenna based on simulation experiments. The simulation experiments started with optimizing the single arm length to obtain the minimum of the S11 parameter at resonant frequency, then the helical pitch was further optimized to limit the resonant frequency to the UHF range. The simulation results showed the resonant frequency rises with an increase of helical pitch and declines with an increase of single arm length. Furthermore, a series of UHF RFID tag threads with good performance from the simulation cases were prepared, and the performance of the optimized tag was validated. Generally, the UHF RFID tag thread with optimized helix dipole antenna could reduce the axial length of the tag by 57% and improve the reading range by 500%, and its performance was greatly superior to that of the UHF RFID tag thread with the classical linear dipole antenna.

Effect of doping by enantiomers with the different absolute configuration and phase sequence on mesomorphic, helical and electro-optical properties of highly tilted chiral anticlinic mixture

The main objective of the present work is to contribute to better understanding of the effect of the absolute configuration and phase sequences of dopants on the self-assembling and physicochemical properties as well as on the electro-optical parameters of a specific liquid crystalline mixture with a broad temperature range of the antiferroelectric phase. In order to establish this effect, the mesomorphic behaviour, helical pitch length and its handedness, spontaneous polarization and tilt angle, as well as electro-optical performance for all design mixture, are determined. The results show a broad temperature range of the antiferroelectric phase and very low melting points in all mixtures. Mixtures doped with (R) enantiomers exhibit longer helical pitch lengths, lower values of spontaneous polarization and rotational viscosity, comparable values of a tilt angle but also longer switch off times in comparison to similar mixtures doped with (S) enantiomers. The doping by the enantiomers exhibiting isotropic-ferroelectric-antiferroelectric phase sequence reveals the most significant impact on properties of the base mixture. The knowledge gained will very advantageous while designing new multicomponent liquid crystalline mixtures exhibiting the chiral tilted smectic mesophases for application in surface stabilized modes with passive and active matrix drive for utilization in photonics and optoelectronics.

The influence of geometrical parameters on the ice formation enhancement in a shell and double coil ice storage system

Nowadays electrical power is one of the most vital requirements for daily life and industries. Since with the rise of the human population, providing electrical energy is an important challenge, some methods should be used to reduce the electrical demand or shift the demand from peak-hours to off-peak hours. Ice storage systems are one of the devices which can be used for this purpose. In this article, a transient 3D numerical simulation was carried out to investigate the effects of two geometrical parameters of double helical coil heat exchanger in the charging process of an ice storage system with the volume of 15 L. These parameters were helical coil pitch length and the distance between inner and outer coils. The results indicated that with higher values for pitch length and inner and outer coils distance, compared to smallest values for these parameters, the distribution of formed ice in the storage improves and the rate of ice formation increases by 22.81% and 13.99%, respectively. Increasing these values can also retard the ice block formation which is an undesirable phenomenon in the external discharge process of the ice storage systems.

Analysis of flow and heat transfer through a partially blocked fuel subassembly of fast breeder reactor

The influence of local porous flow blockage in the active region of a prototype fuel subassembly having 217 helical wire wrapped pins and five helical pitch length of a sodium cooled fast reactor has been investigated. A non-Darcy porous flow model has been adopted for the investigation. The prediction capability of the model has been validated against the published sodium experiments on a 19-pin electrically heated bundle. The blockage parameters, viz., radius, axial height, porosity and debris size have been systematically varied over a range of practical interest. The critical blockage height that leads to risk of local sodium boiling within blockage (i.e. clad temperature approaching sodium boiling point) has been determined as a function of other parameters. The parametric zone which is safe has been identified from the study. Radial extent of blockage and blockage porosity are found to be the most important parameters that influence the thermal hydraulic characteristics. In the wake region behind the blockage, flow gets established within a short length. However thermal mixing is incomplete. The local porous blockage does not significantly alter the total pressure drop in the bundle region, suggesting bulk temperature rise of sodium in the subassembly will be very marginal, though there can be a risk of local sodium boiling and associated clad failure.

Sulfur-linked cyanobiphenyl-based liquid crystal dimers and the twist-bend nematic phase

ABSTRACTThe synthesis and characterisation of two series of cyanobiphenyl-based liquid crystal dimers containing sulfur links between the spacer and mesogenic units, the 4ʹ-[1,ω-alkanediylbis(thio)]bis-[1,1ʹ-biphenyl]-4-carbonitriles (CBSnSCB), and 4ʹ-({ω-[(4ʹ-cyano[1,1ʹ-biphenyl]-4-yl)oxy]alkyl}thio)[1,1ʹ-biphenyl]-4-carbonitriles (CBSnOCB) are described. The odd members of both series show twist-bend nematic and nematic phases, whereas the even members exhibit only the nematic phase. An analogous cyanoterphenyl-based dimer, 34-{6-[(4ʹ-cyano[1,1ʹ-biphenyl]-4-yl)thio]-hexyl}[11,21:24,31-terphenyl]-14-carbonitrile (CT6SCB), is also reported and shows enantiotropic NTB and N phases. The transitional properties of these dimers are discussed in terms of molecular curvature, flexibility and biaxiality. The same molecular factors also influence the birefringence of nematic phases. Resonant X-ray scattering studies of the twist-bend nematic phase at both the carbon and sulfur absorption edges were performed, which allowed for the determination of critical behaviour of the helical pitch at the transition to the nematic phase, the behaviour was found to be independent of molecular structure. It was also observed that despite the different molecular bending angle and flexibility, in all compounds the helical pitch length far from the N-NTB transition corresponds to 4 longitudinal molecular distances.