Abstract
Indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates are chemically modified with bent-shaped molecules and influence of these surface immobilised molecules on the alignment of bulk liquid crystal (LC) samples has been investigated. Bent-core (BC) compounds containing a dimethylchlorosilane moiety at the end of a terminal alkyl chain and a lateral alkyl chain are successfully attached to transparent conducting ITO substrates in an end-on (ITO-BC-t) and side-on (ITO-BC-l) oriented fashion to create stable permanent self-assembled BC layers on the substrates. Surface functionalization is thoroughly characterised and aligning ability of these BC-modified ITO substrates for orientation of bulk LC sample is evaluated for nematic phase of both rod-like and BCLC samples. The BC-modified substrates are effective in aligning the rod-like compounds in vertical (ITO-BC-t), planar orientations (ITO-BC-l) and the BC compounds in homeotropic (ITO-BC-t) alignment.