Liquid crystal nanodroplets in solution.
The aggregation of liquid crystal nanodroplets from a homogeneous solution is studied by molecular dynamics simulations. The liquid crystal particles are modeled as elongated ellipsoidal Gay-Berne particles while the solvent is modeled as spherical Lennard-Jones particles. Extending previous studies of Berardi et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 126, 044905 (2007)], we find that liquid crystal nanodroplets are not stable and that after sufficiently long times the nanodroplets always aggregate into a single large droplet. Results describing the droplet shape and orientation for different temperatures and shear rates are presented. The implementation of the Gay-Berne potential for biaxial ellipsoidal particles in a parallel molecular dynamics code is also briefly discussed.
Brown
W Michael
WM
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185, USA. wmbrown@sandia.gov
Petersen
Matt K
MK
Plimpton
Steven J
SJ
Grest
Gary S
GS