Mesophase behaviour of polyhedral particles
Translational and orientational excluded-volume fields encoded in particles with anisotropic shapes can lead to purely entropy-driven assembly of morphologies with specific order and symmetry. To elucidate this complex correlation, we carried out detailed Monte Carlo simulations of six convex space-filling polyhedrons, namely, truncated octahedrons, rhombic dodecahedrons, hexagonal prisms, cubes, gyrobifastigiums and triangular prisms. Simulations predict the formation of various new liquid-crystalline and plastic-crystalline phases at intermediate volume fractions. By correlating these findings with particle anisotropy and rotational symmetry, simple guidelines for predicting phase behaviour of polyhedral particles are proposed: high rotational symmetry is in general conducive to mesophase formation, with low anisotropy favouring plastic-solid behaviour and intermediate anisotropy (or high uniaxial anisotropy) favouring liquid-crystalline behaviour. It is also found that dynamical disorder is crucial in defining mesophase behaviour, and that the apparent kinetic barrier for the liquid-mesophase transition is much lower for liquid crystals (orientational order) than for plastic solids (translational order).
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | article biblioteca |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
2011-02-13
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| Subjects: | PHASE-BEHAVIOR, NANOPARTICLES, GOLD, NANOCRYSTALS, PACKINGS, CRYSTALS, CUBOIDS, FLUID, |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1813/30455 |
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