Showing papers by "Samo Kralj published in 2008"
TL;DR: It is found that the degree of ordering of the nanorods is enslaved by the properties of the host liquid and that it can be tuned by raising or lowering the temperature or by increasing or decreasing their concentration.
Abstract: The self-organizing properties of nematic liquid crystals can be used to align carbon nanotubes dispersed in them. Because the nanotubes are so much thinner than the elastic penetration length, the alignment is caused by the coupling of the unperturbed director field to the anisotropic interfacial tension of the nanotubes in the nematic host fluid. In order to relate the degree of alignment of the nanotubes to the properties of the nematic liquid crystal, we treat the two components on the same footing and combine Landau-de Gennes free energies for the thermotropic ordering of the liquid crystal and for the lyotropic nematic ordering of carbon nanotubes caused by their mutually excluded volumes. The phase ordering of the binary mixture is analyzed as a function of the volume fraction of the carbon nanotubes, the strength of the coupling and the temperature. We find that the degree of ordering of the nanorods is enslaved by the properties of the host liquid and that it can be tuned by raising or lowering the temperature or by increasing or decreasing their concentration. By comparing the theory to recent experiments, we find the anchoring energy of multiwalled carbon nanotubes to be in the range from 10 -10 to 10 -7 Nm -1 .
126 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the impact of static and dynamic disorder on stochastic resonance (SR) in a representative soft-matter system was studied and the required conditions for the observation of SR in the examined system, and moreover, a random field type static disorder yields qualitatively different responses with respect to random dilution, random bond and spin glass universality classes.
Abstract: We study the impact of static and dynamic disorder on the phenomenon of stochastic resonance (SR) in a representative soft matter system. Due to their extreme susceptibility to weak perturbations, soft matter systems appear to be excellent candidates for the observation of SR. Indeed, we derive generic SR equations from a polymer-stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal (LC) cell, which is a typical soft matter representative constituting one of the basic components in several electro-optic applications. We generalize these equations further in order to study an even broader class of qualitatively different systems, especially disclosing the influence of different types of static disorder and interaction ranges amongst LC molecules on the SR response. We determine the required conditions for the observation of SR in the examined system, and moreover, reveal that a random field type static disorder yields qualitatively different responses with respect to random dilution, random bond and spin glass universality classes. In particular, while the latter three decrease the level of dynamic disorder (Gaussian noise) warranting the optimal response, the former evokes exactly the opposite effect, hence increasing the optimal noise level that is needed to resonantly fine-tune the system's response in accordance with the weak deterministic electric field. These observations are shown to be independent of the system size and range of interactions, thus implying their general validity and potentially wide applicability also within other similar settings. We argue that soft matter systems might be particularly adequate as a base for different SR-based sensitive detectors and thus potent candidates for additional theoretical as well as experimental research in the presently outlined direction.
47 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the influence of nanoparticles (NPs) on liquid crystal (LC) ordering was studied. But the authors focused on the phase behavior of the NPs and not the structural ordering of the liquid crystal.
Abstract: We study the influence of nanoparticles (NPs) on liquid crystal (LC) ordering. As regards the structural ordering we consider NPs as a source of a quenched random field. Roughly such a situation is encountered in mixtures of LCs and aerosil NPs (aerosil NPs are spherular ones). Using the semi-microscopic lattice model and Brownian molecular simulation we show that after a quench from the isotropic phase a quasi-stable domain pattern forms. The characteristic size of an average domain is inversely proportional to the concentration of NPs, and domain patterns exhibit memory effects. In the study of the phase behaviour we limit consideration to NPs resembling LC molecules. A Landau-type free energy expression is derived for the mixture, originating from the Maier‐Saupe molecular approach. We show that the resulting phase behaviour exhibits the slave–master behaviour as the temperature or pressure is varied.
21 citations
TL;DR: Using the Landau-de Gennes phenomenological approach, the fine biaxial core structure of a boojum residing on the surface of a nematic liquid crystal phase is studied.
Abstract: Using the Landau-de Gennes phenomenological approach, we study the fine biaxial core structure of a boojum residing on the surface of a nematic liquid crystal phase. The core is formed by a negatively uniaxial finger, surrounded by a shell with maximal biaxiality. The characteristic finger's length and the shell's width are comparable to the biaxial correlation length. The finger tip is melted for topological reasons. Upon decreasing the surface anchoring strength below a critical value, the finger gradually leaves the bulk and it is expelled through the surface.
15 citations