Soft Matter Theory & Simulations Group

PRE: Liq. Cryst.

• Conformational degrees of freedom and stability of splay-bend ordering in the limit of a very strong planar anchoring
  Author(s): Lech Longa, Michał Cieśla, Paweł Karbowniczek, and Agnieszka ChrzanowskaWe study the self-organization in a monolayer (a two-dimensional system) of flexible planar trimer particles. The molecules are made up of two mesogenic units linked by a spacer, all of which are modeled as hard needles of the same length. Each molecule can dynamically adopt t […]
• Twist-bend nematic drops as colloidal particles: Structural features
  Author(s): K. S. Krishnamurthy, D. S. Shankar Rao, Santosh Y. Khatavi, and Channabasaveshwar V. YelamaggadThe mesogen CB7CB [1″,7″-bis(4-cyanobiphenyl-4′-yl)heptane], mixed with a small quantity of a long chain amphiphile, is examined for the structural features of twist-bend nematic $({N}_{\mathrm{TB}})$ drops acting as colloidal inclusions in the isotropic […]
• Local chiral inversion of chiral nematic liquid crystals in cylinders
  Author(s): Shuting Li, Xuan Zhou, Jiliang Zhu, Kaiyang Du, Yike Du, and Han GaoOn the basis of Landau–de Gennes theory and the finite-difference iterative method, the autonomic modulation of chiral inversion in a cylindrical cavity with degenerate planar anchoring is investigated. Under the applied helical twisting power (inversely related to the pitch $P$), […]
• Spontaneous breaking of chiral symmetry in achiral bent-core liquid crystals: Excluded volume effect
  Author(s): Dipak Patra and Arun RoyBent-Core banana-shaped molecules exhibit tilted polar smectic phases with macroscopically chiral layer order even though the constituent molecules are achiral in nature. Here, we show that the excluded volume interactions between the bent-core molecules account for this spontaneous breaking of chir…[Phys. Rev. E 107, 03470 […]
• Determination of tilt angle and its behavior in chiral smectic phases by exploring molecular conformations using complementary methods
  Author(s): A. Deptuch, T. Jaworska-Gołąb, M. Dziurka, J. Hooper, M. Srebro-Hooper, M. Urbańska, M. Tykarska, and M. MarzecDensity functional theory (DFT) calculations and x-ray diffraction techniques were employed to evaluate the value of the tilt angle in ferroelectric smectic ${C}^{*}$ and antiferroelectric smectic ${C}_{A}^{*}$ phases. Five homologues fro […]
• Weak-anchoring effects in a thin pinned ridge of nematic liquid crystal
  Author(s): Joseph R. L. Cousins, Akhshay S. Bhadwal, Lindsey T. Corson, Brian R. Duffy, Ian C. Sage, Carl V. Brown, Nigel J. Mottram, and Stephen K. WilsonA theoretical investigation of weak-anchoring effects in a thin two-dimensional pinned static ridge of nematic liquid crystal resting on a flat solid substrate in an atmosphere of passive gas is performed. […]
• Nanoparticle localization within chiral liquid crystal defect lines and nanoparticle interactions
  Author(s): Mykola Tasinkevych, Sungoh Park, Haridas Mundoor, and Ivan I. SmalyukhSelf-assembly of colloidal particles into predefined structures is a promising way to design inexpensive manmade materials with advanced macroscopic properties. Doping of nematic liquid crystals (LCs) with nanoparticles has a series of advantages in addressing these grand scient […]
• Ion trapping, reduced rotational viscosity, and accelerated electro-optic response characteristics in gold nano-urchin–nematic suspensions
  Author(s): Rajratan Basu and Derek T. GessThe free-ion concentration in a nematic liquid crystal (LC) is found to be significantly reduced when gold nano-urchins (AuNUs) of 50-nm diameter are dispersed in the LC in dilute concentrations. The nano-urchins on AuNUs trap a significant amount of mobile ions, reducing the free-ion concentration …[Phys. Rev. E 107 […]
• Light-induced wrinkling instability of confined annulus liquid crystal elastomer film
  Author(s): Jingtian Kang, Suixin Liu, and Hua LiAuthors of previous studies have focused on wrinkling phenomena in thin films with relatively large stiffness under mechanical loadings. A liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) is a smart soft material sensitive to various environmental stimuli. In this letter, we investigate the wrinkling instability of a…[Phys. Rev. […]
• Chemical Leslie effect in a chiral $\text{smectic-}{C}^{★}$ film: Nonsingular target patterns
  Author(s): Félix Bunel and Patrick OswaldWhen particles are made to flow through a chiral liquid crystal phase, they can induce flows in the liquid crystal and as well as a rotation of the director. This paper describes experiments with a flux of ethanol through a chiral smectic-C* film, and gives an interpretation of the results in the context of the Leslie […]