Speaker
Paweł Karbowniczek
(Institute of Physics, Cracow University of Technology, Kraków, Poland)
Description
Using Onsager-type of Density Functional Theory and constant pressure MC simulations we study the effect of conformational degrees of freedom on orientational and positional ordering of trimer-like molecules confined to monolayers.
The molecules are composed of three linked line segments. Each of the terminal segments is allowed to occupy one of the two internal states: α and -α, where α is an angle between the central and the terminal segment. Depending on the internal state of its terminal segments this flexible hard-needle can dynamically adopt either a chiral zigzag or achiral bow-shaped conformation. A system composed of such molecules has a rich spectrum of stable, liquid-crystalline structures. The Density Functional Theory admits
the existence of nematic and lamellar nonchiral and chiral phases, while Monte Carlo simulation also suggest existence of more complex, modulated structures, with splay-bend
signature. The model is a generalization of recent studies [1-3], where separately zigzag and/or bow-shaped hard-needles were considered.
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This work is supported by Grant No. DEC-2013/11/B/ST3/04247 of the National Science Centre in Poland.
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[1] J. Peón, J. Saucedo-Zugazagoitia, F. Pucheta-Mendez, R. A. Perusquía, G.
Sutmann, and J. Quintana-H, J. Chem. Phys. **125**, 104908 (2006).
[2] J. Martínez-González, J. C. Armas-Pérez, and J. Quintana-H, J. Stat. Phys. **150**,
559 (2012).
[3] R. Tavarone, P. Charbonneau, and H. Stark, J. Chem. Phys. **143**, 114505 (2015).
Primary authors
Lech Longa
(M. Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland)
Michał Cieśla
(M. Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland)
Paweł Karbowniczek
(Institute of Physics, Cracow University of Technology, Kraków, Poland)
