Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA.
Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA.
Nat Commun. 2017 Apr 28;8:15064. doi: 10.1038/ncomms15064.
The structure and physical properties of liquid crystal (LC) mixtures are a function of composition, and small changes can have pronounced effects on observables, such as phase-transition temperatures. Traditionally, LC mixtures have been assumed to be compositionally homogenous. The results of chemically detailed simulations presented here show that this is not the case; pronounced deviations of the local order from that observed in the bulk at defects and interfaces lead to significant compositional segregation effects. More specifically, two disclination lines are stabilized in this work by introducing into a nematic liquid crystal mixture a cylindrical body that exhibits perpendicular anchoring. It is found that the local composition deviates considerably from that of the bulk at the interface with the cylinder and in the defects, thereby suggesting new assembly and synthetic strategies that may capitalize on the unusual molecular environment provided by liquid crystal mixtures.
液晶 (LC) 混合物的结构和物理性质是组成的函数，微小的变化会对可观察到的性质产生显著影响，例如相变温度。传统上，人们认为 LC 混合物在组成上是均匀的。但这里呈现的化学细节模拟结果表明事实并非如此；在缺陷和界面处，局部有序度与体相观察到的明显偏离，导致了显著的组成分相效应。具体来说，通过在向列液晶混合物中引入具有垂直锚定的圆柱，本工作稳定了两条扭曲线。结果发现，在与圆柱的界面以及在缺陷处，局部组成与体相有很大的偏离，这表明了新的组装和合成策略，可能会利用液晶混合物提供的特殊分子环境。
