Novel maleic anhydride derivatives: liquid crystalline materials with enhanced mesomorphic and optical characteristics.

A new class of liquid crystalline materials, 4-(2,5-dioxo-2,5-dihydro-1H-pyrrol-1-yl)phenyl 4-(alkoxy)benzoates (Mn), derived from maleic anhydride, was synthesized and studied for mesomorphic and optical properties. These materials consist of three derivatives with varying terminal flexible chain lengths (6-12 carbons) linked to the phenyl ring near the ester bond. The study employed differential scanning calorimetry and polarized optical microscopy (POM) to characterize the mesomorphic properties. Molecular structures were elucidated using elemental analysis, FT-IR, and NMR spectroscopy. The findings reveal that all the synthesized maleic anhydride derivatives exhibit enantiotropic nematic (N) mesophases. The insertion of the heterocyclic maleic anhydride moiety into the molecular structure influences the stability and range of the N phase. Additionally, entropy changes during N-isotropic transitions are of small magnitude and exhibit non-linear trends independent of the terminal alkoxy chain length (n). This suggests that the ester linkage group does not significantly promote molecular biaxiality, and the clearing temperature values are relatively high. By comparing the investigated materials with their furan derivatives found in existing literature, it was established that the substitution examined in this study induces the formation of nematic phases.

Correction: Semiconducting quaternary chalcogenide glasses as new potential thermoelectric materials: an As-Ge-Se-Sb case.

Correction for 'Semiconducting quaternary chalcogenide glasses as new potential thermoelectric materials: an As-Ge-Se-Sb case' by A. Dahshan, et al., Dalton Trans., 2015, 44, 14799-14804.

Semiconducting quaternary chalcogenide glasses as new potential thermoelectric materials: an As-Ge-Se-Sb case.

The performance of thermoelectric materials may be improved via complex structures, impurities, disorder etc. Chalcogenide glasses possess such properties. In the present paper, we report the electrical and thermoelectric properties of As14Ge14Se72-xSbx (where x = 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 at%) chalcogenide glasses in the temperature range of 300 K-450 K. The electrical conductivity has been observed to increase from 1.46 × 10(-9) Ω(-1) cm(-1) to 1.80 × 10(-6) Ω(-1) cm(-1) for x = 3 at% to x = 15 at%. The addition of Sb increases the Seebeck coefficient to a large value of 1124 µV K(-1) for x = 15 at% at 333 K. As a result of increased electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient for enhanced values of Sb, the power factor (a measure of the performance of the thermoelectric energy converters) has been observed to increase strongly. Results indicate that the investigated chalcogenide glassy compositions may be potential candidates for incurring high action thermoelectric materials.