Liquid crystal behavior of the Kihara fluid

Abstract

The liquid crystal phases of the Kihara fluid have been studied in computer simulations. The work focuses on the isotropic-nematic-smectic-A triple point region, especially relevant for the understanding of the properties and the design of real mesogens with specific phase diagrams. The Kihara interaction resembles more appropriately than other related models, the shape of elongated polymers and biomolecules, and a closer assertion is provided for the role of the configurational entropy and the dispersive interactions in the behavior of such molecules in dense phases or under macromolecular crowding conditions.

The isotropic-nematic and nematic-nematic phase transition of binary mixtures of tangent hard-sphere chain fluids: An analytical equation of state

“…Although one can use a functional minimization for this, 17,22,61 the numerical difficulties involved in such a method are quite severe. Instead, we choose the OTF approach and assume the ODF of a component i can be approximated as 9…”

Simulation study of discotic molecules in the vicinity of the isotropic–liquid crystal transition

“…Correspondingly, we have incorporated attractive interactions with an explicit dependence on pair orientation into our coarse-grain model. In order to achieve this, we have followed an approach applied previously to rod-like Kihara particles [18][19][20][21]. Within this framework, it is possible to build interaction potentials resembling the features exposed by the ab initio computations on planar and dendritic molecular systems [4].…”

A generalisation of the Onsager trial-function approach: describing nematic liquid crystals with an algebraic equation of state

“…It is not possible to mention all of the applications and extensions of the Onsager theory for liquid crystals here; to date of publication there are over two thousand citations to Onsager's 1949 paper since 1970, and the approach is still very popular. Recent examples of studies which make use of his underlying treatment of anisotropic phases include an examination of: worm-like polymers confined between narrow slits [92]; layering transitions in systems of charged rods [93]; phase separation in mixtures of mesogenic particle particles [94,95]; inhomogeneous systems of disklike particles [96,97]; confined DNA in ionic media [98]; chirality in biological suspensions [99,100]; the addition of polymer to suspensions of rod-like particles [101]; the cholesteric-smectic transition of viral suspensions [102]; and of the original Onsager expressions for the excluded volume of hard cylinders [103]. It is clear from an inspection of this short selection of papers that the Onsager theory of liquid crystals is applicable to an astonishingly broad variety of systems.…”