Related papers: Nematic droplets at fibres
We use lattice Boltzmann simulations of the Beris--Edwards formulation of nematodynamics to probe the response of a nematic liquid crystal with conflicting anchoring at the boundaries under shear and Poiseuille flow. The geometry we focus…
Chiral nematic liquid crystals exhibit both a helical planar ground state with uniform twist and a metastable defect-rich focal conic texture, and can be switched between the two microstructures via application of transient voltage pulses.…
A droplet can deform a soft substrate due to capillary forces when they are in contact. We study the static deformation of a soft solid layer coated on a rigid cylindrical fiber when an axisymmetric barrel-shaped droplet is embracing it. We…
Understanding and controlling the director field configuration, shape, and orientation in nematic and cholesteric liquid crystals is of fundamental importance in several branches of science. Liquid crystalline droplets, also known as…
A surface in contact with the isotropic phase of a passive liquid crystal can induce nematic order over distances that range from microscopic to macroscopic when the nematic-isotropic interface undergoes an orientational-wetting transition.…
Liquid shells (e.g. double emulsions, vesicles etc.) are susceptible to interfacial instability and rupturing when driven out of mechanical equilibrium. This poses a significant challenge for the design of liquid shell based micro-machines,…
Computer simulations are presented of the isotropic-to-nematic transition in a liquid crystal confined between two parallel plates a distance H apart. The plates are neutral and do not impose any anchoring on the particles. Depending on the…
We show that topological defects in an ion-doped nematic liquid crystal can be used to manipulate the surface charge distribution on chemically homogeneous, charge-regulating external surfaces, using a minimal theoretical model. In…
The present study explores the impact of a non-Newtonian fluid drop on a rigid surface using a mesh-free approach, Smoothed Particle Hydrodynam-ics. The complex interaction between viscous and elastic forces during drop impact may be…
Directional media, such as nematic liquid crystals and ferromagnets, are characterized by their topologically stabilized defects in directional order. In nematics, boundary conditions and surface-treated inclusions often create complex…
Chromonic nematics are lyotropic liquid crystals that have already been known for half a century, but have only recently raised interest for their potential applications in life sciences. Determining elastic constants and anchoring…
A three-dimensional, volume-of-fluid (VOF) based CFD model is presented to investigate droplet formation in a microfluidic T-junction. Genesis of Newtonian droplets in non-Newtonian liquid is numerically studied and characterized in three…
Recent experiments have reported that ferroelectric nanoparticles have drastic effects on nematic liquid crystals--increasing the isotropic-nematic transition temperature by about 5 K, and greatly increasing the sensitivity to applied…
Many vesicles have a spherical resting shape and exposure to fluid flows induces an exchange between sub-optical area and visible (systematic) deformation, while the total area is conserved. The dynamics which controls the exchange between…
We study the spontaneous breaking of rotational symmetry in the helical surface state of three-dimensional topological insulators due to strong electron-electron interactions, focusing on time-reversal invariant nematic order. Owing to the…
We demonstrate a variety of ordered patterns, including hexagonal structures and chains, formed by colloidal particles (droplets) at the free surface of a nematic liquid crystal (LC). The surface placement introduces a new type of particle…
Freestanding slender fluid filaments of room temperature ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals are described. They are stabilized either by internal electric fields of bound charges formed due to polarization splay, or by external voltage…
We present a self-contained study of the dynamics of oscillating nanomenisci anchored on nanometric topographical defects around a cylindrical nanofiber -- radius below 100 nm. Using frequency-modulation atomic force microscopy (FM-AFM), we…
Molecular dynamics simulations were employed to study the wetting behavior of nanoscale aqueous hydrophilic and hydrophobic Imidazolium based ionic liquid (IL) droplets on a solid graphite substrate subjected to the perpendicular electric…
Swimming in low-Reynolds-number fluids requires the breaking of time-reversal symmetry and centrosymmetry. Microswimmers, often with asymmetric shapes, exhibit nonreciprocal motions or exploit nonequilibrium processes to propel. The role of…