Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Nematic alignment at a solid substrate: The model of hard spherocylinders near a hard wall

Journal Article · · Phys. Rev. A; (United States)
A system of hard spherocylinders near an impenetrable wall is studied in the low-density Onsager approximation. Using a simple local approximation for the one-particle distribution function, we show that the preferred orientation of the nematic director is parallel to the wall. The density and order-parameter profiles are calculated. The nematic main order parameter Q is enhanced near the wall even though the density is reduced. The wall-induced biaxiality P is small in the interfacial region. We find that wetting by the nematic phase should occur at the nematic-isotropic coexistence.
Research Organization:
Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Kasprzaka 44/52, 01-224 Warszawa, Poland
OSTI ID:
7089252
Journal Information:
Phys. Rev. A; (United States), Journal Name: Phys. Rev. A; (United States) Vol. 38:7; ISSN PLRAA
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Plastic crystal phases of hard dumbbells and hard spherocylinders
Journal Article · Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1997 · Journal of Chemical Physics · OSTI ID:526882

Structure of nematic liquid crystalline elastomers under uniaxial deformation
Journal Article · Tue Feb 14 23:00:00 EST 2006 · Physical Review. E, Statistical Physics, Plasmas, Fluids, and Related Interdisciplinary Topics · OSTI ID:20778697

Exact equations of state for nematics
Journal Article · Sat Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Annals of Physics · OSTI ID:22848382