An Adiabatic Scanning Calorimetry Study of the Nematic-Smectic A and Nematic-Isotropic Phase Transitions in 4-butyloxyphenyl-4'-decyloxybenzoate.

In this adiabatic scanning calorimetry (ASC) study we investigated the liquid crystal 4-butyloxyphenyl-4'-decyloxybenzoate ([image omitted]) with the emphasis on the nematic-to-smectic A (N-SmA) and the nematic-to-isotropic (N-I) phase transitions. Because of the high resolution ASC technique we were able to accurately determine the latent heat of the first order N-I transition. The N-SmA transition was found to be a continuous one within the experimental resolution and the value of the effective specific heat capacity critical exponent, α, was found to be 0.23±0.01, thus between the 3D XY and tricritical value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]