Nanometer Confinement Induces Nematic Order in 1-Dodecanol

Abstract

The phase state and molecular dynamics of 1-dodecanol are studied in the bulk and under nanometer confinement within self-ordered nanoporous alumina templates. A rotator phase in the bulk is absent under confinement. A nematic liquid crystalline phase is formed instead in pores with diameters from 400 down to 25 nm. Results are based on the changes in temperature-dependence of dielectric permittivity and X-ray diffraction. The phase diagram under confinement is explored, and the limits of the nematic-to-isotropic and crystalline-to-nematic phase transitions are identified. The phase diagram allows for a direct transition from the liquid to the low-temperature crystalline phase in pores with a diameter below 20 nm. Furthermore, we report on the dielectric fingerprint of the rotator phase and the molecular dynamics in bulk 1-dodecanol.