Chromonic liquid crystals (CLC) are lyotropic phases formed by discotic mesogens in water. Simple chiral dopants such as amino acids have been reported to turn chromonic liquid crystals into their cholesteric counterparts. Here we report a chirality amplification effect in the nematic phase of a 9 wt% disodium cromoglycate (DSCG) lyotropic liquid crystal (LLC) upon doping with a water-soluble codeine derivative. The transition on cooling the isotropic to the nematic phase showed the presence of homochiral spindle-shaped droplets (tactoids). NMR DOSY experiments on a triple gradient probe revealed a small degree of diffusion anisotropy for the alkaloid embedded in the liquid crystal structure. These results in combination with XRD, CD and POM experiments agree with a supramolecular aggregation model based on simple columnar stacks.

The subject of ionicity has been extensively discussed in the last decade, due to the importance of understanding the thermodynamic and thermophysical behaviour of ionic liquids. In our previous work, we established that ionic liquids' ionicity could be improved by the dissolution of simple inorganic salts in their milieu. In this work, a comparison between the thermophysical properties of two binary systems of ionic liquid + inorganic salt is presented. The effect of the ammonium thiocyanate salt on the ionicity of two similar ionic liquids, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethylsulfonate and ethylsulfate, is investigated in terms of the related thermophysical properties, such as density, viscosity and ionic conductivity in the temperature range 298.15-323.15 K. In addition, spectroscopic (NMR and Raman) and molecular dynamic studies were conducted in order to better understand the interactions that occur at a molecular level. The obtained results reveal that although the two anions of the ionic liquid exhibit similar chemical structures, the presence of one additional oxygen in the ethylsulfate anion has a major impact on the thermophysical properties of the studied systems.

Orientational ordering in polydomain nematic and isotropic elastomers with identical polysiloxane backbone and different deuterium-labeled side groups is studied by D-NMR. In the nematic elastomer the orientational order parameter grows in a critical fashion on crossing the I-N transition implying a continuous phase transition driven by critical fluctuations of local director. The orientational (nematic) ordering occurs on the background of the polymer dynamics exhibited by the backbone, which is similar in the nematic and the analogous isotropic elastomers. The temperature dependence of NMR linewidths is compatible with a Vogel-Fulcher glassy dynamics.

We carry out a detailed deuterium nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) study of local nematic ordering in polydomain nematic elastomers. This system has a close analogy to the random-anisotropy spin glass. We find that, in spite of the quadrupolar nematic symmetry in three dimensions requiring a first-order transition, the order parameter in the quenched "nematic glass" emerges via a continuous phase transition. In addition to this remarkable effect, by a careful analysis of the NMR line shape, we deduce that the local director fluctuations grow in a critical manner around the transition point. This could become an essential experimental evidence for the quenched disorder changing the order of discontinuous transition.