The relationship between the molecular structure and the formation of the NTB phase is still at an early stage of development. This is mainly related to molecular geometry, while the correlation between the NTB phase and the electronic structure is ambiguous. To explore the electronic effect on properties and stabilization of the NTB phase we investigated 2,3-difluoro-4,4-dipentyl-p-terphenyl dimers (DTC5Cn). We used IR polarized spectroscopy, which can at least in principle, bring information about the ordering in NTB phase. All dimers show a significant drop of the average value of the transition dipole moment d{\mu}/dQ for parallel dipoles at the transition to the NTB phase, and an increase for perpendicular dipoles, despite its remaining unchanged for the monomer. These results coincide well with DFT simulations of vibrational dipole derivatives for molecules assembled in pseudo-layers of the NTB phase. The DFT calculations were used to determine the geometric and electronic properties of the hydrogen bonded complexes. We have provided experimental and theoretical evidence of stabilization of the NTB phase by arrays of multiple hydrogen bonds (XF...HX, X-benzene ring).
@article{arxiv.2012.07702,
title = {The role of intermolecular interactions in stabilizing the structure of the nematic twist-bend phase},
author = {Katarzyna Merkel and Barbara Loska and Chris Welch and Georg H. Mehl and Antoni Kocot},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2012.07702},
year = {2021}
}