Issue 7, 2022

From nematic shells to nematic droplets: energetics and defect transitions

Abstract

In this work, we investigate the possibility of inducing valence transitions, i.e. transitions between different defect configurations, by transforming a nematic shell into a nematic droplet. Our shells are liquid crystal droplets containing a smaller aqueous droplet inside, which are suspended in an aqueous phase. When osmotically de-swelling the inner droplet, the shell progressively increases its thickness until it eventually becomes a single droplet. During the process, the shell energy landscape evolves, triggering a response in the system. We observe two different scenarios. Either the inner droplet progressively shrinks and disappears, inducing a defect reorganization, or it is expelled from the shell at a critical radius of the inner droplet, abruptly changing the geometry of the system. We use numerical simulations and modeling to investigate the origin of these behaviors. We find that the selected route depends on the defect structure and the energetics of the system as it evolves. The critical inner radius and time for expulsion depend on the osmotic pressure of the outer phase, suggesting that the flow through the shell plays a role in the process.

Graphical abstract: From nematic shells to nematic droplets: energetics and defect transitions

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
15 Feb 2021
Accepted
11 Jan 2022
First published
18 Jan 2022

Soft Matter, 2022,18, 1395-1403

From nematic shells to nematic droplets: energetics and defect transitions

K. He, Y. Zhou, H. Ramezani-Dakhel, J. J. de Pablo, A. Fernandez-Nieves and T. Lopez-Leon, Soft Matter, 2022, 18, 1395 DOI: 10.1039/D1SM00241D

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