Nematic-Smectic Transition under Confinement in Liquid Crystalline Colloidal Shells

Abstract

We carry out the first study of smectic liquid crystalline colloidal shells and investigate how their complex internal structure depends on the director configuration in the nematic phase, preceding the smectic phase on cooling. Differences in the free energy cost of director bend and splay give an initial skewed distribution of topological defects in the nematic phase. In the smectic phase, the topological and geometrical constraints of the spherical shell imposed on the developing 1D quasi-long-range order create a conflict that triggers a series of buckling instabilities. Two different characteristic defect patterns arise, one driven by the curvature of the shell, the other by the strong nonuniformities in the director field in the vicinity of the topological defects.

One-piece micropumps from liquid crystalline core-shell particles

“…They could thus be manufactured at moderate temperatures in a surrounding aqueous medium [31][32][33][34] . With an isotropization temperature of 80 1C, the reactive monomer mixture used in this study needs to be processed at elevated temperatures and requires a customized heat-resistant microfluidic device 30 .…”

Modeling deformation and chaining of flexible shells in a nematic solvent with finite elements on an adaptive moving mesh

“…We caution that the NP shells in a nematic background presented in this paper differ considerably from nematic shells in a double emulsion [54][55][56]. Possessing two nematic-water interfaces with strong surface tension, these shells do not tend to deform, and, owing to the isolated nematic region composing each shell, more elaborate defect structures often form.…”

Confinement-Induced Transition of Topological Defects in Smectic Liquid Crystals: From a Point to a Line and Pearls

“…In polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) research, how the shape of LC droplets dispersed in a polymer matrix affects the electro-optic properties has been studied [10][11][12]. Many other geometries with controlled surface polarities have been studied as confinements [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. However, there has been no systematic observation of individual defects in confinements of low symmetry with continuously varying curvature.…”