Elastocapillary driven assembly of particles at free-standing smectic-A films
Abstract
Colloidal particles at complex fluid interfaces and within films assemble to form ordered structures with high degrees of symmetry via interactions that include capillarity, elasticity, and other fields like electrostatic charge. Here we study microparticle interactions within free-standing smectic-A films, in which the elasticity arising from the director field distortion and capillary interactions arising from interface deformation compete to direct the assembly of motile particles. New colloidal assemblies and patterns, ranging from 1D chains to 2D aggregates, sensitive to the initial wetting conditions of particles at the smectic film, are reported. This work paves the way to exploiting LC interfaces as a means to direct spontaneously formed, reconfigurable, and optically active materials.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1709.08253,
title = {Elastocapillary driven assembly of particles at free-standing smectic-A films},
author = {Mohamed Amine Gharbi and Daniel A. Beller and Nima Sharifi-Mood and Rohini Gupta and Randall D. Kamien and Shu Yang and Kathleen J. Stebe},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1709.08253},
year = {2018}
}
Comments
8 pages, 6 figures. Supplementary Materials: 3 pages, 3 figures