Related papers: Ionically charged topological defects in nematic f…

Colloidal particles dispersed in a liquid crystal lead to distortions of the director field. The distortions are responsible for long-range effective colloidal interactions whose asymptotic behaviour is well understood. The short distance…

For a dielectric solid surrounded by an electrolyte and positioned inside an externally biased parallel-plate capacitor, we study numerically how the resulting induced-charge electro-osmotic (ICEO) flow depends on the topology and shape of…

A solid ionic conductor with cation conductivity in the interelectrode region is studied. Due to their large size, the anions are considered fixed and form a homogeneous neutralizing electric background. The model can be used to describe…

We present a theoretical study of the director fields and energetics of nematic liquid crystal shells with two pairs of surface defects. The pairs of defects can undergo abrupt transitions between a configuration of maximum separation to at…

In thin films of smectic-C liquid crystals, localized regions containing additional smectic layers form circular inclusions that carry a topological charge. Such inclusions nucleate a companion topological defect. These inclusion-defect…

The effective interaction between spherical colloids in nematic liquid crystals is investigated in the framework of the Landau-de Gennes theory. The colloids differ through their interaction with the nematic. While both particles induce…

In this work, we show that Janus washers, genus-one colloids with hybrid anchoring conditions, form topologically required defects in nematic liquid crystals. Experiments under crossed polarizers reveal the defect structure to be a rigid…

In electrochemical systems, the structure of electrical double layers (EDLs) near electrode surfaces is crucial for energy conversion and storage functions. While the electrodes in real-world systems are usually heterogeneous, to date the…

Topological phases usually are unreachable in molecular solids, which are characteristic of weakly dispersed energy bands with a large gap, in contrast to topological materials. In this work, however, we propose that nontrivial electronic…

Phase separation in salt-free symmetric mixtures of oppositely charged rodlike polyelectrolytes is studied using quasi-analytical calculations. Stability analyses for the isotropic-isotropic and the isotropic-nematic phase transitions in…

Delivering the full benefits of first principles calculations to battery materials demands the development of accurate and computationally-efficient electronic structure methods that incorporate the effects of the electrolyte environment…

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…

Van der Waals heterostructures give access to a wide variety of new phenomena that emerge thanks to the combination of properties brought in by the constituent layered materials. We show here that owing to an enhanced interaction cross…

Surfaces of ionic solids interacting with an ionic solution can build up charge by exchange of ions. The surface charge is compensated by a strip of excess charge at the border of the electrolyte forming an electric double layer. These…

Topological defects are at the root of the large-scale organization of liquid crystals. In two-dimensional active nematics, two classes of topological defects of charges $\pm 1/2$ are known to play a major role due to active stresses.…

The structure of polar liquids and electrolytic solutions, such as water and aqueous electrolytes, at interfaces underlies numerous phenomena in physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering. In this work, we develop a continuum theory that…

Widely known for their uses in displays and electro-optics, liquid crystals are more than just technological marvels. They vividly reveal the topology and structure of various solitonic and singular field configurations, often markedly…

Smectic liquid crystals are charcterized by layers that have a preferred uniform spacing and vanishing curvature in their ground state. Dislocations in the smectics play an important role in phase nucleation, layer reorientation, and…

Progress in electrochemical applications of ionic liquids builds on an understanding of electrical double-layer. This computational study focuses on structure-determined quantities -- maximum packing density, potentials and capacitances --…

Topological photonic crystals, which offer topologically protected and back-scattering-immune transport channels, have recently gained significant attention for both scientific and practical reasons. Although most current studies focus on…