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Updated: Jan 23, 2026
08:54
Synthesis and Exfoliation of Discotic Zirconium Phosphates to Obtain Colloidal Liquid Crystals
Published on: May 25, 2016
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Stability of binary colloidal crystals immersed in a cholesteric liquid crystal
Setarehalsadat Changizrezaei1, Colin Denniston2
1Department of Applied Mathematics, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5B8, Canada.
Physical Review. E
|June 20, 2019
Summary
This study models crystal formation in liquid crystals (LCs). Body-centered-cubic (BCC) crystals are more stable than diamond crystals in cholesteric LCs, and face-centered-cubic (FCC) crystals form stably in nematic LCs.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Soft Matter Physics
Background:
- Liquid crystals (LCs) exhibit unique properties due to their ordered molecular structures.
- Colloidal crystals within LCs are of interest for self-assembly and material design.
- Understanding the stability of different crystal structures is crucial for controlling LC-based devices.
Purpose of the Study:
- To model and compare the stability of various crystal structures (diamond, BCC, FCC) within cholesteric and nematic liquid crystals.
- To investigate the influence of liquid crystal pitch values and boundary conditions on crystal formation.
- To determine the most energetically favorable crystal structures and conditions for their formation.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the Landau-de Gennes free-energy method for modeling.
- Simulated both closed-packed and non-closed-packed crystals.
- Applied binary boundary conditions (normal and planar anchoring) on colloid surfaces.
Main Results:
- Body-centered-cubic (BCC) crystals exhibit lower-energy lattice defect structures compared to diamond crystals.
- The most energetically favorable BCC lattice forms when the cholesteric LC pitch is commensurate with the lattice spacing.
- Binary colloids self-assemble into stable face-centered-cubic (FCC) lattices in nematic LCs, showing lower energy than diamond and BCC structures.
Conclusions:
- BCC crystals are more stable than diamond crystals in cholesteric LCs under specific pitch conditions.
- FCC lattices represent the most stable structure for binary colloids in nematic LCs.
- The findings provide insights into controlling colloidal self-assembly and crystal formation in liquid crystal environments.
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