The micro-segregation picture of a block copolymer was applied to a low molecular weight liquid crystal (LC) to clarify the similarities between them with respect to structured mesophase formation. Calamitic LC molecules were regarded as block compounds composed of a rigid anisometric core terminated by flexible chains. Then, the incompatibility parameter core-chain and volume fraction f core were considered analogous to AB and f A in A-B diblock copolymers. Fedors's method, which was originally used for polymers, was utilized to estimate core-chain and f core . We found good correspondence in the versus f phase diagram between block copolymers and block LCs.Liquid crystal (LC) materials that form complex nanostructured mesophases (e.g., cubic phase) have attracted increasing interest recently. 1 In these nonconventional LC materials, some individual molecular characteristics (e.g., hydrogenbonding, lateral dipole interactions) have been pointed out for the origin of such complex mesophase formations. 2,3 In addition, nanoscale segregation of incompatible molecular parts are considered to play an important role in their self-assembly. 4,5 Calamitic LC molecules can be regarded as block compounds composed of a rigid anisometric (mesogenic) core terminated by flexible chains. Polyphilic block molecules 1 consisting of a chemically incompatible core and chains, e.g., a hydrocarbon mesogenic core with oligo(ethylene oxide) chains, 6 siloxane chains, 5 or perfluoroalkyl chains 3 etc., have been found to form not only smectic but also columnar, cubic, and other threedimensionally structured mesophases. Such structured mesophases are popularly found in a block copolymer system, since even minor chemical differences are sufficient for such mesophase formation in large polymer molecules. 1 More precisely the parameters which govern these mesophase formations for A-B diblock copolymers are the total degree of polymerization N ) N A + N B , the Flory-Huggins parameter AB , and the volume fraction of the components f A . The Flory-Huggins parameter AB is a measure of the incompatibility between components A and B, and an order-disorder transition (e.g, formation of lamellar phase) occurs when AB N exceeds a critical value (∼10 at f ) 0.5). 7,4 Hence, low molecular weight LC molecules must possess a strong incompatibility between their different parts to form highly structured mesophases. 1 As the volume fraction f governs the interfacial curvature of the micro-segregated system, the phase diagram of the diblock copolymer can be represented in an f versus N diagram. 7 In this study, we try to adapt the f -N diagram approach to a structured mesophase forming a LC molecule to clarify the similarities to the copolymer. The Flory-Huggins parameter AB can be estimated according to the following equation:where δ A and δ B represent the Hildebrand solubility parameter and V R is a reference volume. 1 The solubility parameter δ is defined as the square root of the cohesive energy density and can be written as follows:where ∆E is the ...