Related papers: Topological-defect-induced surface charge heteroge…
In the study of colloidal, biological and electrochemical systems, it is customary to treat surfaces, macromolecules and electrodes as homogeneously charged. This simplified approach is proven successful in most cases, but fails to describe…
Quasi-periodic structures of quasicrystals yield novel effects in diverse systems. However, there is little investigation on employing quasi-periodic structures in the morphology control. Here, we show the use of quasi-periodic surface…
In two dimensional nematics, topological defects are point like singularities with both a charge and a phase. We study topological defects within curved nematic textures on the surface of a cylinder. This allows us to isolate the effect of…
The structure of dilute electrolyte solutions close to a surface carrying a spatially inhomogeneous surface charge distribution is investigated by means of classical density functional theory (DFT) within the approach of fundamental measure…
The properties of liquid crystals can be modelled using an order parameter which describes the variability of the local orientation of rod-like molecules. Defects in the director field can arise due to external factors such as applied…
The deformation mechanism in amorphous solids subjected to external shear remains poorly understood because of the absence of well-defined topological defects mediating the plastic deformation. The notion of soft spots has emerged as a…
We propose a general formalism to characterize orientational frustration of smectic liquid crystals in confinement by interpreting the emerging networks of grain boundaries as objects with a topological charge. In a formal idealization,…
We present a theory that enables us to calculate the effective surface charge of colloidal particles and to efficiently obtain titration curves for different salt concentrations. The theory accounts for the shift of pH of solution due to…
The homotopy theory of topological defects is a powerful tool for organizing and unifying many ideas across a broad range of physical systems. Recently, experimental progress has been made in controlling and measuring colloidal inclusions…
The properties of surfaces with charge-regulated patches are studied using non-linear Poisson-Boltzmann theory. Using a mode expansion to solve the non-linear problem efficiently, we reveal the charging behaviour of Debye-length sized…
We investigate experimentally and numerically the defect configurations emerging when a cholesteric liquid crystal is confined to a spherical shell. We uncover a rich scenario of defect configurations, some of them non-existent in nematic…
We investigate a counterintuitive geometric interaction between defects and curvature in thin layers of superfluids, superconductors and liquid crystals deposited on curved surfaces. Each defect feels a geometric potential whose functional…
Control of physical behaviors of nematic colloids and colloidal crystals has been demonstrated by tuning particle shape, topology, chirality and surface charging. However, the capability of altering physical behaviors of such soft matter…
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 present study aims at utilizing field effect phenomenon to induce heterogeneous surface charge and consequently changing the fluid flow in a solid state nanochannel with converging-diverging periodicity. It is shown that the proposed…
Topological crystalline insulators (TCIs) can exhibit unique, quantized electric phenomena such as fractional electric polarization and boundary-localized fractional charge. This quantized fractional charge is the generic observable for…
Colloids dispersed in nematic liquid crystals form topological composites in which colloid-associated defects mediate interactions while adhering to fundamental topological constraints. Better realising the promise of such materials…
We study the effect of boundary rugosity in nematic liquid crystalline systems. We consider a highly general formulation of the problem, able to simultaneously deal with several liquid crystal theories. We use techniques of Gamma…
Long-range e.g. Coulomb-like interactions for (quantized) topological charges are observed experimentally in liquid crystals, bringing open question this article is exploring: how far can we take this resemblance with particle physics?…
A systematic analysis of defect textures in facetted nanoparticles with polygonal configurations embedded in a nematic matrix is performed using the Landau-de Gennes model, homeotropic strong anchoring in a square domain with uniform…