Elastic constants of biological filamentous colloids: Estimation and implications on nematic and cholesteric tactoid morphologies
| Autor: | Massimo Bagnani, Mario Arcari, Cristiano De Michele, Raffaele Mezzenga, Paride Azzari |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
Amyloid
Materials science Colloids Liquid Crystals Nanoparticles Molecular orbital theory 02 engineering and technology General Chemistry 010402 general chemistry 021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology Condensed Matter Physics 01 natural sciences 0104 chemical sciences chemistry.chemical_compound Colloid chemistry Chemical physics Liquid crystal Lyotropic Contour length Cellulose 0210 nano-technology Scaling Energy functional |
| Zdroj: | Soft Matter, 17 (8) |
| ISSN: | 1744-683X 1744-6848 |
| Popis: | Biological liquid crystals, originating from the self-assembly of biological filamentous colloids, such as cellulose and amyloid fibrils, show a complex lyotropic behaviour that is extremely difficult to predict and characterize. Here we analyse the liquid crystalline phases of amyloid fibrils, and sulfated and carboxylated cellulose nanocrystals and measure their Frank-Oseen elastic constants K1, K2 and K3 by four different approaches. The first two approaches are based on the benchmark of the predictions of: (i) a scaling form and (ii) a variational form of the Frank-Oseen energy functional with the experimental critical volumes at order–order liquid crystalline transitions of the tactoids. The third and the fourth methods imply: (iii) the direct scaling equations of elastic constants and (iv) a molecular theory predicting the elastic constants from the experimentally accessible contour length distributions of the filamentous colloids. These three biological systems exhibit diverse liquid crystalline behaviour, governed by the distinct elastic constants characterizing each colloid. Differences and similarities among the three systems are highlighted and interpreted based on the present analysis, providing a general framework to study dispersed liquid crystalline systems. Soft Matter, 17 (8) ISSN:1744-683X ISSN:1744-6848 |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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