Coherently moving flocks of birds, beasts, or bacteria are examples of living matter with spontaneous orientational order. How do these systems differ from thermal equilibrium systems with such liquid crystalline order? Working with a fluidized monolayer of macroscopic rods in the nematic liquid crystalline phase, we find giant number fluctuations consistent with a standard deviation growing linearly with the mean, in contrast to any situation where the central limit theorem applies. These fluctuations are long-lived, decaying only as a logarithmic function of time. This shows that flocking, coherent motion, and large-scale inhomogeneity can appear in a system in which particles do not communicate except by contact.

We study experimentally the nonequilibrium phase behaviour of a horizontal monolayer of macroscopic rods. The motion of the rods in two dimensions is driven by vibrations in the vertical direction. Aside from the control variables of packing fraction and aspect ratio that are typically explored in molecular liquid crystalline systems, due to the macroscopic size of the particles we are also able to investigate the effect of the precise shape of the particle on the steady states of this driven system. We find that the shape plays an important role in determining the nature of the orientational ordering at high packing fraction. Cylindrical particles show substantial tetratic correlations over a range of aspect ratios where spherocylinders have previously been shown [1] to undergo transitions between isotropic and nematic phases. Particles that are thinner at the ends (rolling pins or bails) show nematic ordering over the same range of aspect ratios, with a well-established nematic phase at large aspect ratio and a defect-ridden nematic state with large-scale swirling motion at small aspect ratios. Finally, long-grain, basmati rice, whose geometry is intermediate between the two shapes above, shows phases with strong indications of smectic order.

nanowires, [ 7 ] PbZr x Ti 1-x O 3 nanowires [ 8 ] and nanoribbons [ 9,10 ] and poly(vinylidene fl uoride) (PVDF) nanofi bers [ 11 ] have all revealed promising energy harvesting performance. There has since been an ongoing concerted effort in developing this relatively new research fi eld, connecting nanotechnology with the fi eld of energy. [ 12 ] Piezoelectric nanowires are particularly attractive for energy harvesting due to their robust mechanical properties and high sensitivity to typically small ambient vibrations. [ 13 ] The implications of these properties, in fact, go beyond energy harvesting, as nanowirebased nanogenerators have recently been shown to function as bio mechanical sensors, [ 14 ] sensitive pressure sensors [ 15 ] and precision accelerometers. [ 16 ] The challenge lies in the large scale production of low-cost piezoelectric nanowires that can offer reproducible and reliable energy harvesting and/or sensor performance.The polymer PVDF [(CH2-CF2) n ] exhibits good piezoelectric and mechanical properties with excellent chemical stability and resilient weathering characteristics. [ 17,18 ] PVDF thin fi lms are thus commonly used as sensors and actuators. [ 19 ] However, the piezoelectric performance of PVDF is dependent on the nature of the crystalline phase present. Typically, PVDF occurs in the α, β and γ crystalline phases [20][21][22] and needs to be electrically poled (using an electric fi eld of the order of 100 MV m −1 ) and/ or mechanically stretched [ 20,22 ] to achieve the polar β-phase that shows the strongest piezoelectric behavior. [ 21 ] is a co-polymer that crystallizes more easily into the β-phase due to steric factors, [ 22 ] an advantage that we exploit in this work. Nanowires of PVDF and its copolymers have been previously incorporated into piezoelectric nanogenerators [ 11 ] but the relatively complex electrospinning fabrication process employed requires high voltages (5-50 kV) and specialized equipment. The associated high electric fi elds and stretching forces result in poled nanowires, however this fabrication process often suffers from poor control over nanowire size-distribution and alignment, and is yet to be conveniently and cost-effectively scaled up. [ 23 ] Here we report the growth of aligned P(VDF-TrFE) nanowires with a narrow size distribution using a simple, cost-effective and easily scalable template-wetting method, [ 24,25 ] where the template-induced space confi nement promotes high crystallinity and preferential orientation of the lamellar crystals in the polymer nanowires. [ 26,27 ] This results in the enhancement of piezoelectric properties, even without the need for electrical poling. A nanogenerator fabricated using template-grown, self-poled P(VDF-TrFE) nanowires is shown to have excellent electrical output when subjected to periodic vibrations. Using a circuit comprising a rectifi er to convert its AC output to DC, and a bank of capacitors to store the harvested energy, the nanogenerator is shown to be capable of lighting a commercial light emitting ...