Related papers: Interactions of distinct quadrupolar nematic collo…
Substrates which are chemically or topographically patterned induce a variety of liquid crystal textures. The response of the liquid crystal to competing surface orientations, typical of patterned substrates, is determined by the anisotropy…
Colloidal particles disturb the alignment of rod-like molecules of liquid crystals, giving rise to long-range interactions that minimize the free energy of distorted regions. Particle shape and topology are known to guide this self-assembly…
An effective Landau-like description of ferronematics, i.e., suspensions of magnetic colloidal particles in a nematic liquid crystal (NLC), is developed in terms of the corresponding magnetization and nematic director fields. The study is…
We construct a phenomenological Landau-de Gennes theory for hard colloidal rods by performing an order parameter expansion of the chemical-potential dependent grand potential. By fitting the coefficients to known results of Onsager theory,…
Using computer simulations we investigate the microscopic structure of the singular director field within a nematic droplet. As a theoretical model for nematic liquid crystals we take hard spherocylinders. To induce an overall topological…
We propose the use of topographic modulation of surfaces to select and localize particles in nematic colloids. By considering convex and concave deformations of one of the confining surfaces we show that the colloid-flat surface repulsion…
In electronic band structures, nodal lines may arise when two (or more) bands contact and form a one-dimensional manifold of degeneracy in the Brillouin zone. Around a nodal line, the dispersion for the energy difference between the bands…
Theoretical description of the elastic interaction between colloidal particles in NLC with incorporation of the higher order elastic terms beyond the limit of dipole and qudrupole interactions is proposed. The expression for the elastic…
We review and compare recent work on the properties of fluctuating interfaces between nematic and isotropic liquid-crystalline phases. Molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations have been carried out for systems of ellipsoids and hard…
Topology can manifest itself in colloids when quantified by invariants like Euler characteristics of nonzero-genus colloidal surfaces, albeit spherical colloidal particles are most often studied, and colloidal particles with complex…
A Self Consistent Field Theory description of equilibrium, but non uniform, configurations adopted by semi flexible liquid crystal molecules is presented. Two cases are considered, isotropic-nematic phase boundaries, and topological defects…
Nematic liquid crystals confined to geometrically as well as chemically patterned substrate on one end and a flat substrate with strong anchoring on the other is studied using non-Boltzmann Monte Carlo methods. We observe significant…
We use molecular dynamics to study the ordering of a nematic liquid crystal around a spherical particle or droplet. Homeotropic boundary conditions and strong anchoring create a hedgehog director configuration on the particle surface and in…
The electrostatic interaction between pairs of spherical or macroscopically long, parallel cylindrical colloids trapped at fluid interfaces is studied theoretically for the case of small inter-particle separations. Starting from the…
A continuum theory is employed to numerically study the equilibrium orientation and defect structures of a circular cylindrical particle with flat ends under a homeotropic anchoring condition in a uniform nematic medium. Different aspect…
The ability to control the movement and assembly of particles in liquid crystals is not only an important route to design functional materials, but also sheds light on the mechanisms of colloidal interactions. In this study we place…
Rational control over the periodic arrangement of particles by means of external stimuli is a technologically important aspect of colloidal science with important physical underpinnings. Here, a robust structural control of particle…
The physical behaviour of anisotropic charged colloids is determined by their material dielectric anisotropy, affecting colloidal self-assembly, biological function and even out-of-equilibrium behaviour. However, little is known about…
We analyze the interplay between wetting and anchoring of nematic liquid crystals on disordering, e.g., rough substrates in the framework of the Landau-de Gennes theory, in situations of competing homeotropic and planar easy axes on the…
Spherical colloids that catalyze the interconversion reaction $A \leftrightharpoons B$ between solute molecules $A$ and $B$ whose concentration at infinity is maintained away from equilibrium effectively interact due to the non-uniform…