Abstract:

Discotic liquid crystal (LC) molecules readily form columnar supramolecular structures. Because of molecular mobility in the LC state these columnar assemblies can self-heal structural defects to a certain extent. Therefore, conjugated aromatic molecules of the discotic LC state may exhibit exceptional charge carrier transport properties, and thus are potential active materials for use in optoelectronic devices. In this review, a number of discotic LC materials including benzene, triphenylene, hexabenzocoronene, perylene, and phthalocyanine derivatives are reviewed. The emphases are on the correlation between chemical structure and LC properties and some recent developments in the application of these materials in optoelectronic devices such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), organic field-effect transistors (OFET), and photovoltaic cells. In addition, studies related to the dynamics of some discotic LC materials are briefly discussed.

Key words: Discotic liquid crystal, Columnar phase, Self-assembly, Optoelectronic device, Dynamics