Ph.D. Thesis
Title Structure, Orientational Order and Dynamics
of Rod-Like and Banana-Shaped Liquid Crystals by Means of 2H
NMR
Adviser Prof. Carlo Alberto Veracini
Thesis Committee Prof. Piero Baglioni (Dipartimento
di Chimica, Università degli studi di Firenze) (President of
the Commettee), Prof. Maria Perla Colombini (Dipartimento di Chimica
e Chimica Industriale, Università degli studi di Pisa) (Segretary
of the Commettee), 3. Prof. Michele Laus (Dipartimento di Scienze
dell'Ambiente e della Vita, Università degli studi del Piemonte
Orientale), 4. Prof. Giuliano Longoni (Dipartimento di Chimica Fisica
e Inorganica, Università di Bologna), 5. Prof. Massimo Olivucci
(Dipartimento di Chimica, Università di Siena)
Essay
The field of liquid crystals (LCs) is for me one of
the most fascinating aspects of the Science of Materials, on the other
hand, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) represents a very powerful
spectroscopy for the large amount of possibilities in performing and
projecting new experiments, with the purpose of enlightening both
the molecular structure, orientational ordering and dynamics of single
molecules.
My Ph.D. research mainly focused on investigating the
dynamics of thermotropic LCs and the structural properties of a new
class of LCs called banana shaped LCs by means of 2H NMR.
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