11. Fingered core structure of nematic boojumsSamo Kralj, Riccardo Rosso, Epifanio Giovanni Virga, 2008, original scientific article Abstract: Using the Landau-de Gennes phenomenological approach, we study the fine biaxial core structure of a boojum residing on the surface of a nematic liquid crystal phase. The core is formed by a negatively uniaxial finger, surrounded by a shell with maximal biaxiality. The characteristic finger's length and the shell's width are comparable to the biaxial correlation length. The finger tip is melted for topological reasons. Upon decreasing the surface anchoring strength below a critical value, the finger gradually leaves the bulk and it is expelled through the surface.
Keywords: physics, liquid crystals, nematic crystals, line defects, surface phenomena
Published in DKUM: 07.06.2012; Views: 2110; Downloads: 112
 Link to full text |
12. Alignment of carbon nanotubes in nematic liquid crystalsPaul van der Schoot, Vlad Popa-Nita, Samo Kralj, 2008, original scientific article Abstract: The self-organizing properties of nematic liquid crystals can be used to aligncarbon nanotubes dispersed in them. Because the nanotubes are so much thinner than the elastic penetration length, the alignment is caused by the coupling of the unperturbed director field to the anisotropic interfacial tension of the nanotubes in the nematic host fluid. In order to relate the degree of alignment of the nanotubes to the properties of the nematic liquid crystal, we treat the two components on the same footing and combine Landau-deGennes free energies for the thermotropic ordering of the liquid crystal and for the lyotropic nematic ordering of carbon nanotubes caused by their mutually excluded volumes. The phase ordering of the binary mixture is analyzed as a function of the volume fraction of the carbon nanotubes, the strength of the coupling and the temperature. We find that the degree of ordering of the nanorods is enslaved by the properties of the host liquid and that it can be tuned by raising or lowering the temperature or by increasing or decreasing their concentration. By comparing the theory to recent experiments, we find the anchoring energy of multiwalled carbon nanotubes to be in the range from 10-10 to 10-7 N m-1.
Keywords: liquid crystals, nematic crystals, molecular dynamics, stability, elasticity, carbon nanotubes
Published in DKUM: 07.06.2012; Views: 2023; Downloads: 88
Link to full text |
13. |
14. Finite-size effects on order reconstruction around nematic defectsSamo Kralj, Riccardo Rosso, Epifanio Giovanni Virga, 2010, original scientific article Abstract: By use of the Landau-de Gennes phenomenological theory, we study the texture of a nematic liquid crystal confined within a hybrid cell. Precisely, we consider cylindrically symmetric solutions containing topological defects dictated by appropriate boundary conditions. We focus our attention on cells whose dimensions are comparable with the biaxial correlation length ▫$xi_b$▫. For such severe confinements the order reconstruction (OR) configuration could be stable. Its structural details reflect the balance among boundary-enforced frustration, elastic penalties, and finite-size effects. In particular, we analyze the interplay between finite-size effects and topological defects. We show that defects are always pinned to the negatively (planar) uniaxial sheet of the OR structure. The presence of a ring defect can dramatically increase the critical threshold below which the OR structure is stable.
Keywords: physics, liquid crystals, nematic crystals, nematic defects, structural transitions
Published in DKUM: 07.06.2012; Views: 2658; Downloads: 98
Link to full text |
