Supramolecular self-assembly of hydrogen bonded phenylenediboronic acid-alkoxy benzoic acids and their silver nanocomposites

Hydrogen bonded liquid crystals are functional soft materials that have attracted great research interest due to unique combination of their structural and dynamic properties. 1,4-Benzene diboronic acid (BDBA) was hydrogen bonded with mesogenic alkoxy benzoic acids (ABA) to form self-organized supramolecular structures, which exhibited nematic and smectic textures, confirmed using polarizing optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction measurements. Uniform dispersion of 3% silver nanoparticles in the supramolecular matrix resulted in minor variations in the mesogenic behavior, but appreciable changes in the resistivity values were observed compared to the hydrogen-bonded BDBA-12ABA binary mixture.