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From Sponges to Nanotubes: A Change of Nanocrystal Morphology for Acute‐Angle Bent‐Core Molecules
Author(s) -
Gorecka Ewa,
Vaupotič Nataša,
Zep Anna,
Pociecha Damian
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201604915
Subject(s) - bent molecular geometry , materials science , molecule , bathochromic shift , phase (matter) , dopant , morphology (biology) , nanocrystal , nanotechnology , crystallography , nanotube , chemical physics , carbon nanotube , optics , chemistry , composite material , optoelectronics , doping , organic chemistry , physics , biology , fluorescence , genetics
The crystalline (B 4 ) phase made of acute‐angle bent‐core molecules (1,7‐naphthalene derivatives), which exhibits an unusual, highly porous sponge‐like morphology, is presented. However, if grown in the presence of low‐weight mesogenic molecules, the same crystal forms nanotubes with a very high aspect ratio. The nanotubes become unstable upon increasing the amount of dopant molecules, and the sponge‐like morphology reappears. The phase is optically active, and the optical activity is an order of magnitude smaller than in the B 4 phase made of conventional bent‐core molecules. The optical activity is related to the spatial inhomogeneity of the layered structure and is reduced due to the low apex angle and low tilt of the molecules. The arrangement of molecules within the layers was deduced from the bathochromic absorption shift in the B 4 phase.