Matthew A. Glaser — Page 3

arXiv2001

Self-assembly in Lyotropic Chromonic Liquid Crystals

We have developed a class of idealized models of chromonic molecules which are miscible in water, but which can form aggregates which in turn organize into lyotropic liquid crystal (LC) phases. By carrying out Monte Carlo simulation in a binary mixture of model chromonic and water molecules, we have studied the effect of concentration and molecular shape on the nature of resulting mesophases. We have also computed the free energy associated with the formation of chromonic columnar aggregates by umbrella sampling. Our free energy computation helps us to verify the isodesmic behavior which is characteristic of chromonic systems. For isodesmic behavior the addition of each chromonic molecule to the columnar aggregates is accompanied by a constant free energy increment and the net free energy decreases with increasing column length.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2001

Induced Anticlinic Ordering and Nanophase Segregation of Bow-Shaped Molecules in a Smectic Solvent

Recent experiments indicate that doping low concentrations of bent-core molecules into calamitic smectic solvents can induce anticlinic and biaxial smectic phases. We have carried out Monte Carlo (MC) simulations of mixtures of rodlike molecules (hard spherocylinders with length/breadth ratio $L_{\rm rod}/D = 5$) and bow- or banana-shaped molecules (hard spherocylinder dimers with length/breadth ratio $L_{ban}/D = 5$ or 2.5 and opening angle $ψ$) to probe the molecular-scale organization and phase behavior of rod/banana mixtures. We find that a low concentration (3%) of $L_{ban}/D = 5$ dimers induces anticlinic (SmC$_A$) ordering in an untilted smectic (SmA) phase for $100^\circ \le ψ< 150^\circ$. For smaller $ψ$, half of each bow-shaped molecule is nanophase segregated between smectic layers, and the smectic layers are untilted. For $L_{ban}/D = 2.5$, no tilted phases are induced. However, with decreasing $ψ$ we observe a sharp transition from {\sl intralamellar} nanophase segregation (bow-shaped molecules segregated within smectic layers) to {\sl interlamellar} nanophase segregation (bow-shaped molecules concentrated between smectic layers) near $ψ= 130^\circ$. These results demonstrate that purely entropic effects can lead to surprisingly complex behavior in rod/banana mixtures.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗