Issue 24, 2013

Diffusion mechanisms in smectic ionic liquid crystals: insights from coarse-grained MD simulations

Abstract

We present the results of MD simulations, using a coarse grained force field, concerning the mechanism of diffusion in ionic liquid crystals. The dynamical properties of the recently characterized (G. Saielli, Soft Matter, 2012, 8, 10279) model system of 1-hexadecyl-3-methylimidazolium nitrate in the smectic A phase are analysed in detail. Comparison is made with the dynamical behaviour of thermotropic non-ionic smectic liquid crystals (LCs) and with that of lamellar phases of surfactantwater mixtures. The self-diffusion anisotropy, that is the ratio between the parallel and perpendicular diffusion coefficients, is consistent with that of non-ionic smectic LCs, though a significant contribution to the parallel diffusion is given by “pore” defects, similarly to what was observed in lamellar phases.

Graphical abstract: Diffusion mechanisms in smectic ionic liquid crystals: insights from coarse-grained MD simulations

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
05 Feb 2013
Accepted
11 Apr 2013
First published
14 May 2013

Soft Matter, 2013,9, 5716-5725

Diffusion mechanisms in smectic ionic liquid crystals: insights from coarse-grained MD simulations

G. Saielli, G. A. Voth and Y. Wang, Soft Matter, 2013, 9, 5716 DOI: 10.1039/C3SM50375E

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