Polymorphic transitions mediated by surfactants in liquid crystal nanodroplet

Hiroaki Tsujinoue, Takuya Inokuchi, Noriyoshi Arai

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Recently, various techniques have been developed using photonic crystals. Liquid crystals (LC) confined in a nanodroplet mimicked photonic crystals, such as those of opal. Therefore, investigating the phase behaviour of LC molecules in nanodroplets is very important in the next-generation optical field. In this study, the chemical interaction between surfactants and LCs in nanodroplets is reproduced using a dissipative particle dynamics method. We identify the phase behaviour of LCs and investigate how the chemical interaction affect on the orientation of LCs. In particular, by adding surfactant molecules, various morphological behaviours were observed in the LC nanodroplet. The phase transition temperature varied depending on RND (amount of surfactant molecules). Furthermore, difference of the self-assembly structure also appeared inside the droplet depending on RND. Our simulation offers a theoretical guide to control morphologies of self-assembled LCs inside a nanodroplet, a novel system that may find applications in nanofluidic devices or in photonic crystal technology.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1428-1439
Number of pages12
JournalLiquid Crystals
Volume46
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019 Jul 15
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Liquid crystal
  • confined system
  • dissipative particle dynamics method
  • photonic crystal
  • surfactant

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Chemistry(all)
  • Materials Science(all)
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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