Size effect of properties in hybrid of gold nanoparticles and calamitic mesogen

In this contribution we describe the synthesis and investigation of Au NPs functionalized with organic mesogenic groups which self-assemble into liquid crystalline phases. A nematic mesogenic liquid crystalline laterally reacts with functionalized gold via a siloxane group using Karstedt's catalyst. Compared to earlier work where NPs were in the size of 1.5-2.5 nm, we report here on larger than 5 nm sized particles. The synthesis of the particles is based on a new methodology using digestive ripening and synthesis functionalisation of the organic groups. This example may open up a protocol for liquid crystal molecules encapsulated in nanoparticles. Properties of the calamitic mesogen encapsulated gold nanoparticles have been investigated by HRTEM, NMR, UV/Vis, differential scanning calorimetriy (DSC), optical polarizing microscopy (OPM).