Lamellar Nanoconfinements Effects in Discotic Liquid Crystalline Block Copolymers

We have evaluated the effect of slit-like nanoconfinements imposed on columnar discotic phases within a discotic block copolymer displaying a lamellar microphase. Findings are that the columns are oriented uniformly along the lamellar normal within the plane of thin films, that a rectangular rather than a hexagonal columnar phase is formed within the discotic regions, that the thermodynamic stability of the columnar phase is strongly reduced relative to the low molar mass model compounds and finally, that the isotropic phase can be unusually strongly supercooled with respect to the columnar phase formation. Slit-like nanoconfinements allow thus to induce novel types of the intrinsic order and columnar orientations.