Self-assembly and ionic conductivity of phthalocyanine-containing liquid-crystalline compound films

Abstract A series of phthalocyanine-containing liquid-crystalline compounds (LCCs) are prepared by use of polystyrene sulfonic acid, copper phthalocyanine and an isonicotinate compound via self-assembly. The liquid crystal behavior of LCCs is identified using a polarizing microscope, differential scanning calorimetry, and X-ray diffraction measurements. The LCCs exhibit a helical columnar phase structure, and the liquid crystal behavior of the LCCs is adjusted by changing the composition of the compounds. A series of oriented LCC films are fabricated under different applied electric field intensity at liquid-crystalline temperature. The ionic conductivity is investigated by use of a Li solution passing through the orientated LCC films. Compared with the non-orientated samples, the samples orientated by 25 V/m of electric field show nearly 2-fold increase of conductivity, which is up to 4.0 × 10−4 S cm−1.