Nanorings in planar confinement: the role of repulsive surfaces on the formation of lacuna smectics
Nanorings in planar confinement: the role of repulsive surfaces on the formation of lacuna smectics
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平面限制中的纳米环:排斥表面对空穴近晶形成的作用
DOI:
10.1080/00268976.2018.1484950
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发表时间:
2018
影响因子:
1.7
通讯作者:
Avendaño C
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
Avendaño C
We study the structure and liquid-crystalline phase behaviour of a model of confined non-convex circular soft-repulsive nanorings in a planar slit geometry using molecular-dynamics simulation. The separation distance between the structureless parallel soft-repulsive walls is made large enough to allow for the formation of a distinct bulk phase in the central region of the box which is in coexistence with the adsorbed fluid thus allowing the analysis of single-wall effects. As the density of the particles is increased, the fluid adsorbs (wets) onto the planar surfaces leading to the formation of well-defined smectic-A layers with a spacing proportional to the diameter of the rings. An analysis of the nematic order parameter at distances perpendicular to the surface reveals that the particles in each layer exhibit anti-nematic behaviour and planar (edge-on) anchoring relative to the short symmetry axis of the rings. This behaviour is in stark contrast to the behaviour observed in convex disc-like particles that have the tendency to form nematic (discotic) structures with homeotropic (face-on) anchoring. The smectic phases formed by nanorings in the bulk and under confinement are characterised by the formation of low-density layered liquid-crystalline states with large voids, referred to here as lacuna smectic phases. In contrast to what is typically found for confined liquid-crystalline systems involving convex particles, no apparent biaxiality is found for nanorings in planar confinement. We argue that formation of the low-density lacuna smectic layers with planar anchoring is a consequence of the non-convex shape of the circular rings that allow for interpenetration between the particles as observed for nanorings under bulk conditions [C. Avendaño, G. Jackson, E.A. Müller and F.A. Escobedo, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.113, 9699 (2016); H.H. Wensink and C. Avendaño, Phys. Rev. E94, 062704 (2016)].
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影响因子:
8.6
作者:
Ashton DJ
通讯作者:
Ashton DJ
影响因子:
8.6
作者:
A. Poniewierski;R. Hołyst
通讯作者:
R. Hołyst
DOI:
--
发表时间:
2016
期刊:
Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter
影响因子:
--
作者:
René Wittmann;M. Marechal;K. Mecke
通讯作者:
K. Mecke
影响因子:
3.4
作者:
M. M. Piñeiro;A. Galindo;A. O. Parry
通讯作者:
A. O. Parry
影响因子:
4.4
作者:
G. Cinacchi;A. Tani
通讯作者:
A. Tani