Elastic and Optical Properties of Some 4′-n-Alkyl-4-Cyanobiphenyls

Abstract The bend elastic constants (k 33) and order parameters (S) derived from optical measurements in the nematic phase of pentlyl, hexyl, heptyl and octyl cyanobiphenyls (5CB, 6CB, 7CB and 8CB respectively) are reported. The odd-even effect is clearly seen in the K 33 values of all four compounds and in the S values of the first three. 5CB, 6CB and 7CB show only the nematic mesophase but their elastic constants indicate the existence of smectic-like short range order. For example, even the lowest homologue, 5CB, does not obey the law k 33 ∞ S 2 given by the mean field throry. 7CB, has about the same order parameter as 5CB but a much higher elastic constant. 8CB, which shows a smectic A phase as well, exhibits a lower k 33 than 7CB near the nematic-isotropic transition point but a pronounced pretransitional increase near the A-N transition.