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Published on: May 21, 2014
Novel Colloidal Interactions in Anisotropic Fluids
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Abstract:
Small water droplets dispersed in a nematic liquid crystal exhibit a novel class of colloidal interactions, arising from the orientational elastic energy of the anisotropic host fluid. These interactions include a short-range repulsion and a long-range dipolar attraction, and they lead to the formation of anisotropic chainlike structures by the colloidal particles. The repulsive interaction can lead to novel mechanisms for colloid stabilization.
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