ترغب بنشر مسار تعليمي؟ اضغط هنا

Colloidal templating at a cholesteric - oil interface: Assembly guided by an array of disclination lines

115   0   0.0 ( 0 )
 نشر من قبل Juho Lintuvuori
 تاريخ النشر 2013
  مجال البحث فيزياء
والبحث باللغة English




اسأل ChatGPT حول البحث

We simulate colloids (radius $R sim 1mu$m) trapped at the interface between a cholesteric liquid crystal and an immiscible oil, at which the helical order (pitch p) in the bulk conflicts with the orientation induced at the interface, stabilizing an ordered array of disclinations. For weak anchoring strength W of the director field at the colloidal surface, this creates a template, favoring particle positions eitheron top of or midway between defect lines, depending on $alpha = R/p$. For small $alpha$, optical microscopy experiments confirm this picture, but for larger $alpha$ no templating is seen. This may stem from the emergence at moderate W of a rugged energy landscape associated with defect reconnections.

قيم البحث

اقرأ أيضاً

Hydrophobic PMMA colloidal particles, when dispersed in oil with a relatively high dielectric constant, can become highly charged. In the presence of an interface with a conducting aqueous phase, image charge effects lead to strong binding of colloid al particles to the interface, even though the particles are wetted very little by the aqueous phase. In this paper, we study both the behavior of individual colloidal particles as they approach the interface, and the interactions between particles that are already interfacially bound. We demonstrate that using particles which are minimally wetted by the aqueous phase allows us to isolate and study those interactions which are due solely to charging of the particle surface in oil. Finally, we show that these interactions can be understood by a simple image-charge model in which the particle charge $q$ is the sole fitting parameter.
The ordering of nanoparticles into predetermined configurations is of importance to the design of advanced technologies. In this work, we moderate the surface anchoring against the bulk elasticity of liquid crystals to dynamically shape nanoparticle assemblies at a fluid interface. By tuning the degree of nanoparticle hydrophobicity with surfactants that alter the molecular anchoring of liquid crystals, we pattern nanoparticles at the interface of cholesteric liquid crystal emulsions. Adjusting the particle hydrophobicity more finely further modifies the rigidity of assemblies. We establish that patterns are tunable by varying both surfactant and chiral dopant concentrations. Since particle assembly occurs at the interface with the desired structures exposed to the surrounding phase, we demonstrate that particles can be readily crosslinked and manipulated, forming structures that retain their shape under external perturbations. This study establishes the templating of nanomaterials into reconfigurable arrangements. Interfacial assembly is tempered by elastic patterns that arise from the geometric frustration of confined cholesterics. This work serves as a basis for creating materials with chemical heterogeneity and with linear, periodic structures, essential for optical and energy applications.
In this review we discuss recent advances in the self-assembly of self-propelled colloidal particles and highlight some of the most exciting results in this field with a specific focus on dry active matter. We explore this phenomenology through the l ens of the complexity of the colloidal building blocks. We begin by considering the behavior of isotropic spherical particles. We then discuss the case of amphiphilic and dipolar Janus particles. Finally, we show how the geometry of the colloids and/or the directionality of their interactions can be used to control the physical properties of the assembled active aggregates, and suggest possible strategies on how to exploit activity as a tunable driving force for self-assembly. The unique properties of active colloids lend promise for the design of the next generation of functional, environment-sensing microstructures able to perform specific tasks in an autonomous and targeted manner.
We induce and investigate the coarsening and melting dynamics of an initially static nanoparticle colloidal monolayer at an ionic liquid-vacuum interface, driven by a focused, scanning electron beam. Coarsening occurs through grain interface migratio n and larger-scale motions such as grain rotations, often facilitated by sliding dislocations. The progressive decrease in area fraction that drives melting of the monolayer is explained using an electrowetting model whereby particles at the interface are solvated once their accumulating charge recruits sufficient counterions to subsume the particle. Subject to stochastic particle removal from the monolayer, melting is recapitulated in simulations with a Lennard-Jones potential. This new driving mechanism for colloidal systems, whose dynamical timescales we show can be controlled with the accelerating voltage, opens the possibility to manipulate particle interactions dynamically without need to vary particle intrinsic properties or surface treatments. Furthermore, the decrease in particle size availed by electron imaging presents opportunities to observe force and time scales in a lesser-explored regime intermediate between typical colloidal and molecular systems.
We study the light scattering by localized quasi planar excitations of a Cholesteric Liquid Crystal known as spherulites. Due to the anisotropic optical properties of the medium and the peculiar shape of the excitations, we quantitatively evaluate th e cross section of the axis-rotation of polarized light. Because of the complexity of the system under consideration, first we give a simplified, but analytical, description of the spherulite and we compare the Born approximation results in this setting with those obtained by resorting to a numerical exact solution. The effects of changing values of the driving external static electric (or magnetic) field is considered. Possible applications of the phenomenon are envisaged.
التعليقات
جاري جلب التعليقات جاري جلب التعليقات
سجل دخول لتتمكن من متابعة معايير البحث التي قمت باختيارها
mircosoft-partner

هل ترغب بارسال اشعارات عن اخر التحديثات في شمرا-اكاديميا