Heterogeneous colloidal particles immersed in a liquid crystal
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 28, 2026

Confocal Imaging of Confined Quiescent and Flowing Colloid-polymer Mixtures
Published on: May 20, 2014
Setarehalsadat Changizrezaei1, Colin Denniston2
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5B8, Canada.
Abstract:
In this paper, we explore anisotropic interactions between particles with heterogeneous boundary conditions inside both nematic and cholesteric liquid crystals. The results show that when particles are put at different distances and angles with respect to each other, new types of defect structures are produced, depending on the relative distances and directions. In a cholesteric liquid crystal, the value of the pitch affects the defect structures and induced forces. Moreover, it was observed that it is energetically favorable for the particles to remain in a plane parallel to the far-field director in a nematic liquid crystal, while for particles immersed in a cholesteric there are multiple energy minima not all located in the same plane.
Related Concept Videos
The Colloidal State
Colloids
Colloids and Suspensions
Colloidal precipitates
Solubility
A solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of a solvent, the major component, and a solute, the minor component. The physical state of a solution—solid, liquid, or gas—is typically the same as that of the solvent. Solute concentrations are often described with qualitative terms such as dilute (of relatively low concentration) and concentrated (of relatively high concentration).
In a solution, the solute particles (molecules,...
Coagulation

