PIRSA:14050057

Motion of disc-shaped colloids and pairs of colloidal discs in a nematic liquid crystal

Antipova, A. (2014). Motion of disc-shaped colloids and pairs of colloidal discs in a nematic liquid crystal. Perimeter Institute. https://pirsa.org/14050057

Antipova, Alena. Motion of disc-shaped colloids and pairs of colloidal discs in a nematic liquid crystal. Perimeter Institute, May. 07, 2014, https://pirsa.org/14050057 

          @misc{ pirsa_PIRSA:14050057,
            doi = {10.48660/14050057},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/14050057},
            author = {Antipova, Alena},
            keywords = {},
            language = {en},
            title = {Motion of disc-shaped colloids and pairs of colloidal discs in a nematic liquid crystal},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute},
            year = {2014},
            month = {may},
            note = {PIRSA:14050057 see, \url{https://pirsa.org}}
          }

Alena Antipova Western University

DOI 10.48660/14050057
Collection
Talk Type Conference

Abstract

In the present work the motion of disc-shaped particles in a nematic liquid crystal was simulated via a Lattice Boltzmann algorithm. Under the action of a rotating magnetic field the colloidal disc with perpendicular surface anchoring immersed in a nematic liquid crystal experiences a torque and continues turning following the field. However when the disc reaches some critical position when the director field around it is highly distorted the disc suddenly flips to minimize the free energy. Analyzing this motion and consequently the behaviour of two discs placed close together we examine the possible uses of this peculiar flip behaviour.