Defect-polymorphism controlled electrophoretic propulsion of anisometric microparticles in a nematic liquid crystal
| Autor: | Devika V S, Dinesh Kumar Sahu, Ravi Kumar Pujala, Surajit Dhara |
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| Rok vydání: | 2022 |
| Předmět: | |
| DOI: | 10.48550/arxiv.2201.09190 |
| Popis: | Nontrivial shape of colloidal particles create complex elastic distortions and topological defects in liquid crystals and play a key role in governing their electrophoretic propulsion through the medium. Here, we report experimental results on defects and electrophoretic transport of anisometric (snowman-shaped) dielectric particles subjected to an alternating electric field perpendicular to the director in a nematic liquid crystal. We demonstrate that the shape asymmetry gives rise to defect-polymorphism by nucleating point or ring defects at multiple locations on the particle and controls the direction as well as the magnitude of the electrophoretic propulsion. Our findings unveil a novel degree of freedom in translocating microparticles in liquid crystals for applications in microfluidics, controlled transport and assembly. Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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