Molecular and segmental orientational order in a smectic mesophase of a thermotropic ionic liquid crystal

We investigate conformational dynamics in the smectic A phase formed by the mesogenic ionic liquid 1-tetradecyl-3-methylimidazolium nitrate. Solid-state high-resolution ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra are recorded in the sample with the mesophase director aligned in the magnetic field of the NMR spectrometer. The applied NMR method, proton encoded local field spectroscopy, delivers heteronuclear dipolar couplings of each ¹³C spin to its ¹H neighbours. From the analysis of the dipolar couplings, orientational order parameters of the C–H bonds along the hydrocarbon chain were determined. The estimated value of the molecular order parameter S is significantly lower compared to that in smectic phases of conventional non-ionic liquid crystals.