Segregation of liquid crystal mixtures in topological defects

Rahimi, Mohammad; Ramezani-Dakhel, Hadi; Zhang, Rui; Ramirez-Hernandez, Abelardo; Abbott, Nicholas L.; de Pablo, Juan J.

doi:10.1038/ncomms15064

Title: Segregation of liquid crystal mixtures in topological defects

Journal Article · Fri Apr 28 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Nature Communications

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15064· OSTI ID:1377866

Rahimi, Mohammad ^[1]; Ramezani-Dakhel, Hadi ^[1];

^[1]; Ramirez-Hernandez, Abelardo ^[2]; Abbott, Nicholas L. ^[3]; de Pablo, Juan J. ^[2]

Univ. of Chicago, Chicago, IL (United States)
Univ. of Chicago, Chicago, IL (United States); Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)

The structure and physical properties of liquid crystal (LC) mixtures are a function of composition, and small changes can have pronounced effects on observables, such as phase-transition temperatures. Traditionally, LC mixtures have been assumed to be compositionally homogenous. The results of chemically detailed simulations presented here show that this is not the case; pronounced deviations of the local order from that observed in the bulk at defects and interfaces lead to significant compositional segregation effects. More specifically, two disclination lines are stabilized in this work by introducing into a nematic liquid crystal mixture a cylindrical body that exhibits perpendicular anchoring. Here, it is found that the local composition deviates considerably from that of the bulk at the interface with the cylinder and in the defects, thereby suggesting new assembly and synthetic strategies that may capitalize on the unusual molecular environment provided by liquid crystal mixtures.

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Research Organization:: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)

Sponsoring Organization:: US Army Research Office (ARO); National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357

OSTI ID:: 1377866

Journal Information:: Nature Communications, Vol. 8; ISSN 2041-1723

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 19 works

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