Reactive Fluid Ferroelectrics: A Gateway to the Next Generation of Ferroelectric Liquid Crystalline Polymer Networks

Herein we report the first examples of reactive mesogenic materials (RMs) which exhibit fluid ferroelectric order based on the recently discovered ferroelectric nematic (NF) phase. We term these materials NF RMs and they provide the first steps towards the next generation of ferroelectric liquid crystalline polymer networks. We report the chemical synthesis and characterisation of the liquid crystalline properties of these materials, demonstrating that they have the lowest longitudinal molecular dipole moments of any reported NF material of 7.39 D. We go on to demonstrate a potential use case of this new class of reactive material through the polymer stabilisation of a matrix which exhibits the NF phase, increasing the phase range of the ferroelectric phase from 75 °C to 120 °C. The NF RMs reported herein are an exciting step forward in ferroelectric liquid crystal research, demonstrating that reactive NF materials are achievable, allowing for the future development of liquid crystalline ferroelectric networks, elastomers and polymers.