Related papers: Charge-, salt- and flexoelectricity-driven anchori…
We present and analyze a model for the combination of bulk and surface electroclinic effects in the smectic-A* (Sm-A) phase near a Sm-A*--Sm-C* transition. As part of our analysis we calculate the dependence of the surface tilt on external…
The recent discovery of ferroelectric nematic liquid crystalline phases marks a major breakthrough in soft matter research. An intermediate phase, often observed between the nonpolar and the ferroelectric nematic phase, shows a distinct…
Patterned surfaces with large effective slip lengths, such as super-hydrophobic surfaces containing trapped gas bubbles, have the potential to greatly enhance electrokinetic phenomena. Existing theories assume either homogeneous flat…
Water drops spontaneously accumulate charges when they move on hydrophobic dielectric surfaces by slide electrification. On the one hand, slide electrification generates electricity with possible applications on tiny devices. On the other…
The process of nickel electroforming is becoming increasingly important in the manufacture of MST products, as it has the potential to replicate complex geometries with extremely high fidelity. Electroforming of nickel uses multi-component…
In the mean field approximation, we evaluate the temperature dependence of the anchoring energy strength of a nematic liquid crystal in contact with a solid substrate due to thermal fluctuations. Our study is limited to the weak anchoring…
Flexoelectricity is universal in all dielectrics, effective at high temperatures, and a promising transduction technique for nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS). However, as flexoelectricity is still in its early stages, many aspects…
We investigate electrostatic stability of charged droplets, modeled as permeable, charged spheres, and their encapsidation in thin, arbitrarily charged nano-shells, immersed in a neutralizing asymmetric electrolyte background. The latter…
The charge inversion phenomenon is studied by molecular dynamics simulations, focusing on size and valence asymmetric salts, and a threshold of surface charge density for charge inversion. The charge inversion criteria by the…
Electrostatic interactions provide a convenient way to modulate interactions between nanoparticles, colloids, and biomolecules because they can be adjusted by the solution pH or salt concentration. While the presence of salt provides an…
We theoretically investigate electrostatic properties between two charged surfaces with a grafted polyelectrolyte layer in an aqueous electrolyte solution by using the Poisson-Boltzmann approach accounting for ion partitioning. In order to…
We revisit the theory of ion transport in parallel-plate channels and also discuss how the wettability of a solid and the mobility of adsorbed surface charges impact the transport of ions. It is shown that depending on the ratio of the…
The recently discovered ferroelectric nematic liquids incorporate to the functional combination of fluidity, processability and anisotropic optical properties of nematic liquids, an astonishing range of physical properties derived from the…
Electrostatic correlations between ions dissolved in water are known to impact their transport properties in numerous ways, from conductivity to ion selectivity. The effects of these correlations on the solvent itself remain, however, much…
Relevant information about the nature of the dynamics of ions in electrolytes can be obtained by studying the nonlinear dependence on an applied electric field. Here we use molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to study the field effects for…
We report on a novel method of dynamically controlling the boundary conditions at the surface of a nematic liquid crystal using a surface flexoelectric effect. By moving the surface directors we show that one is able to manipulate defects…
Surface electric (charge) noise influences spin defects due to fluctuation of the surface charge density and also the electrostatic potential at the crystal surface. Surprisingly, the two-point correlation function of both the charged…
We study the equilibrium configuration of a nematic liquid crystal bounded by a rough surface. The wrinkling of the surface induces a partial melting in the degree of orientation. This softened region penetrates the bulk up to a length…
We study the salt-dependent conformations of dilute flexible polyelectrolytes in solution via computer simulations. Low concentrations of multivalent salt induce the known conformational collapse of individual polyelectrolyte chains, but as…
Polarization flutter, produced by an applied AC electric field drives an equilibrium ferroelectric nematic ($\mathrm{N_F}$) liquid crystal (LC) through a transition into a dissipative active ferroelectric nematic state exhibiting strong…