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Surface-Induced Ordering on Model Liquid Crystalline Dendrimers

December 5th, 2014 Comments off

Zerihun G. Workineh and Alexandros G. Vanakaras, Polymers 2014, 6(8), 2082-2099; doi:10.3390/polym6082082

Abstract: The surface alignment of liquid crystalline dendrimers (LCDrs) is a key factor for many of their potential applications. Here, we present results from Monte Carlo simulations of LCDrs adsorbed on flat, impenetrable aligning substrates. A tractable coarse-grained force field for the inter-dendritic and the dendrimer-substrate interactions is introduced. We investigate the conformational and ordering properties of single, end-functionalized LCDrs under homeotropic, random (or degenerate) planar and unidirectional planar aligning substrates. Depending on the anchoring constrains to the mesogenic units of the LCDr and on temperature, a variety of stable ordered LCDr states, differing in their topology, are observed and analyzed. The influence of the dendritic generation and core functionality on the surface-induced ordering of the LCDrs are examined.

Keywords: liquid crystal dendrimers; surface alignment; Monte Carlo simulations; surface confinement of dendrimer

Categories: 2014, A. G. Vanakaras, Z. Workineh Tags: