Homeotropic nano-particle assembly on degenerate planar nematic interfaces: films and droplets

Londoño-Hurtado, Alejandro; Armas-Pérez, Julio C.; Hernández-Ortiz, Juan P.; de Pablo, Juan J.

doi:10.1039/C5SM00940E

Title: Homeotropic nano-particle assembly on degenerate planar nematic interfaces: films and droplets

Journal Article · Wed May 20 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Soft Matter

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1039/C5SM00940E· OSTI ID:1603434

Londoño-Hurtado, Alejandro ^[1]; Armas-Pérez, Julio C. ^[1];

^[2]; de Pablo, Juan J. ^[1]

Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)
Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States); Univ. Nacional de Columbia, Sede Medellin (Columbia)

A continuum theory is used to study the effects of homeotropic nano-particles on degenerate planar liquid crystal interfaces. Particle self-assembly mechanisms are obtained from careful examination of particle configurations on a planar film and on a spherical droplet. The free energy functional that describes the system is minimized according to Ginzburg–Landau and stochastic relaxations. The interplay between elastic and surface distortions and the desire to minimize defect volumes (boojums and half-Saturn rings) is shown to be responsible for the formation of intriguing ordered structures. As a general trend, the particles prefer to localize at defects to minimize the overall free energy. However, multiple metastable configurations corresponding to local minima can be easily observed due to the high energy barriers that separate distinct particle arrangements. Finally, we show that by controlling anchoring strength and temperature one can direct liquid-crystal mediated nanoparticle self-assembly along well defined pathways.

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Research Organization:: Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States); Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología in Mexico (CONACyT); Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0004025; AC02-06CH11357; 110-165-843-748

OSTI ID:: 1603434

Journal Information:: Soft Matter, Vol. 11, Issue 25; ISSN 1744-683X

Publisher:: Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 9 works

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