Solodkov, N orcid.org/0000-0002-5120-1502, Shim, JU orcid.org/0000-0003-4577-1952 and Jones, JC orcid.org/0000-0002-2310-0800 (2019) Self-Assembly of Fractal Liquid Crystal Colloids. Nature Communications, 10. ARTN: 198. ISSN 2041-1723
Abstract
Nematic liquid crystals are anisotropic fluids that self-assemble into vector fi elds, which are governed by geometrical and topological laws. Consequently, particulate or droplet inclusions self-assemble in nematic domains through a balance of topological defects. Here, we use double emulsions of water droplets inside radial nematic liquid crystal droplets to form various structures, ranging from linear chains to three-dimensional fractal structures. The system is modeled as a formation of satellite droplets, distributed around a larger, central core droplet and we extend the problem to explain the formation of fractal structures. We show that a distribution of droplet sizes plays a key role in
determining the symmetry properties of the resulting geometric structures. The results are relevant to a variety of inclusions, ranging from colloids suspensions to multi-emulsion systems. Such systems have potential applications for novel switchable photonic structures as well as providing wider insights into the packing of self-assembled structures.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2019. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
Keywords: | fractals; Multiple emulsions; liquid crystals; nematics; droplets; colloids; Materials science; Optics and photonics; Physics |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Physics and Astronomy (Leeds) > Molecular & Nanoscale Physics The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Physics and Astronomy (Leeds) > Soft Matter Physics (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) EP/L015188/2 Merck Ltd Not Known |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 02 Jan 2019 12:19 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 21:39 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Nature Publishing Group |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/s41467-018-08210-w |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:140348 |