1. Coupling of nematic in-plane orientational ordering and equilibrium shapes of closed flexible nematic shellsLuka Mesarec, Wojciech Góźdź, Veronika Kralj-Iglič, Samo Kralj, Aleš Iglič, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: The impact of the intrinsic curvature of in-plane orientationally ordered curved flexible nematic molecules attached to closed 3D flexible shells was studied numerically. A Helfrich-Landau-de Gennes-type mesoscopic approach was adopted where the flexible shell’s curvature field and in-plane nematic field are coupled and concomitantly determined in the process of free energy minimisation. We demonstrate that this coupling has the potential to generate a rich diversity of qualitatively new shapes of closed 3D nematic shells and the corresponding specific in-plane orientational ordering textures, which strongly depend on the shell’s volume-to-surface area ratio, so far not predicted in mesoscopic-type numerical studies of 3D shapes of closed flexible nematic shells.
Keywords: orientational ordering, curved nematic molecules, flexible nematic shells, equilibrium shapes, relative volume
Published in DKUM: 25.03.2024; Views: 280; Downloads: 15
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2. Effective topological charge cancelation mechanismLuka Mesarec, Wojciech Góźdź, Aleš Iglič, Samo Kralj, 2016, original scientific article Abstract: Topological defects (TDs) appear almost unavoidably in continuous symmetry breaking phase transitions. The topological origin makes their key features independent of systems’ microscopic details; therefore TDs display many universalities. Because of their strong impact on numerous material properties and their significant role in several technological applications it is of strong interest to find simple and robust mechanisms controlling the positioning and local number of TDs. We present a numerical study of TDs within effectively two dimensional closed soft films exhibiting in-plane orientational ordering. Popular examples of such class of systems are liquid crystalline shells and various biological membranes. We introduce the Effective Topological Charge Cancellation mechanism controlling localised positional assembling tendency of TDs and the formation of pairs {defect, antidefect} on curved surfaces and/or presence of relevant “impurities” (e.g. nanoparticles). For this purpose, we define an effective topological charge Δmeff consisting of real, virtual and smeared curvature topological charges within a surface patch Δς identified by the typical spatially averaged local Gaussian curvature K. We demonstrate a strong tendency enforcing Δmeff → 0 on surfaces composed of Δς exhibiting significantly different values of spatially averaged K. For Δmeff ≠ 0 we estimate a critical depinning threshold to form pairs {defect, antidefect} using the electrostatic analogy.
Keywords: topological defects, topological charge, numerical studies, orientational ordering, nematic liquid crystals, liquid crystalline shells, biological membranes, nanoparticles, Gaussian curvature, electrostatic analogy, annihilation, topology
Published in DKUM: 23.06.2017; Views: 1141; Downloads: 349
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3. Numerical study of membrane configurationsLuka Mesarec, Miha Fošnarič, Samo Penič, Veronika Kralj-Iglič, Samo Kralj, Wojciech Góźdź, Aleš Iglič, 2014, original scientific article Abstract: We studied biological membranes of spherical topology within the framework of the spontaneous curvature model. Both Monte Carlo simulations and the numerical minimization of the curvature energy were used to obtain the shapes of the vesicles. The shapes of the vesicles and their energy were calculated for different values of the reduced volume. The vesicles which exhibit inplane ordering were also studied. Minimal models have been developed in order to study the orientational ordering in colloids coated with a thin sheet of nematic liquid crystal (nematic shells).The topological defects are always present on the surfaces with the topology of a sphere.The location of the topological defects depends strongly on the curvature of the surface. We studied the nematic ordering and the formation of topological defects on vesicles obtained by the minimization of the spontaneous curvature energy.
Keywords: biological membranes, vesicles, spontaneous curvature model, Monte Carlo simulations, nematic shells, orientational ordering, topological defects
Published in DKUM: 14.06.2017; Views: 1285; Downloads: 396
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4. Impact of nanoparticles on nematic ordering in square wellsMitja Slavinec, Eva Klemenčič, Milan Ambrožič, Marjan Krašna, 2015, original scientific article Abstract: Nematic liquid crystalline structures within square wells are studied numerically using both Lebwohl-Lasher lattice semimicroscopic and the Landau-de Gennes mesoscopic approach. At lateral boundary wall strong planar anchoring is enforced. The cell thickness h along the z Cartesian coordinate is assumed to be smaller than the characteristic square well size R. Using semimicroscopic modelling we restrict to effectively two-dimensional systems which we study in terms of the tensor nematic order parameter. We consider impact of appropriate nanoparticles (NPs) on nematic configuration for cases where R becomes comparable to the biaxial order parameter correlation length. In this case a star-like order reconstruction biaxial profile could be formed in absence of NPs. We demonstrate existence of a rich variety of different nematic structures, including topological defects, which are enabled by presence of appropriate NPs.
Keywords: liquid crystals, nanoparticles, nematic ordering, square well, software simulation, visualization
Published in DKUM: 14.06.2017; Views: 1261; Downloads: 372
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