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Confinement induced splay-to-bend transition of colloidal rods
Oliver J Dammone1, Ioannis Zacharoudiou, Roel P A Dullens
1Department of Chemistry, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
We study the nematic phase of rodlike f d-virus particles confined to channels with wedge-structured walls. Using laser scanning confocal microscopy we observe a splay-to-bend transition at the single particle level as a function of the wedge opening angle. Lattice Boltzmann simulations reveal the underlying origin of the transition and its dependence on nematic elasticity and wedge geometry. Our combined work provides a simple method to estimate the splay-to-bend elasticity ratios of the virus and offers a way to control the position of defects through the confining boundary conditions.
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