The intermediate structure of the liquid crystal nanowire in a rough interface and its effect on charge transfer

We investigate the effect that the roughness of a buried interface has on the nanostructure of a liquid crystal. This structure affects and facilitates charge transfer. The rough interface has been prepared such that the liquid crystal aligns parallel to the surface of the interface [1]. The parallel alignment includes the imperfections or openings in the rough interface that have depths that vary between 10 and 100nm [2], plus the overlap of the two materials that constitute the interface [3]. The imperfections are similar to cylindrical tubes or containers. The resulting structure is similar to a nanowire. In this paper, we study the nanowire that forms in the rough interface of an OPV. and observe what happens when the temperature changes. There is a change in the preferred arrangement for many of the liquid crystal as a function of temperature form the point of view of the mechanical properties. We investigate the effects this change has in the ability to transfer the charge carriers. Of interest is the part where the crossing over of the mechanical poperties occur, how does that affect the tranfer of charge carriers and whether there is a "recovery" of the charge cariers once that section is cleared.

[1] Boehm, B. J., et al., Journal of Physics-Condensed Matter, 31, 423001 (2019).

[2] Kekuda, D., et al; Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 114, 2764-2768 (2010).

[3] Poelking, C.; Andrienko, D., Journal of the American Chemical Society, 137, 6320-6326 (2015).