title: Periodic assembly of nanoparticle arrays in disclinations of cholesteric liquid crystals.
abstract: An important goal of the modern soft matter science is to discover new self-assembly modalities to precisely control the placement of small particles in space. Spatial inhomogeneity of liquid crystals offers the capability to organize colloids in certain regions such as the cores of the topological defects. Here we report two self-assembly modes of nanoparticles in linear defects-disclinations in a lyotropic colloidal cholesteric liquid crystal: a continuous helicoidal thread and a periodic array of discrete beads. The beads form one-dimensional arrays with a periodicity that matches half a pitch of the cholesteric phase. The periodic assembly is governed by the anisotropic surface tension and elasticity at the interface of beads with the liquid crystal. This mode of self-assembly of nanoparticles in disclinations expands our ability to use topological defects in liquid crystals as templates for the organization of nanocolloids.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3H6.
authors.forename: Yunfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3H6.
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Prince
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3H6.
authors.forename: Sangho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3E5.
authors.forename: Alinaghi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salari
authors.affiliation: Liquid Crystal Institute and Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242.
authors.forename: Youssef
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mosaddeghian Golestani
authors.affiliation: Liquid Crystal Institute and Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242; olavrent@kent.edu ekumache@chem.utoronto.ca.
authors.forename: Oleg D
authors.initials: OD
authors.lastname: Lavrentovich
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3H6; olavrent@kent.edu ekumache@chem.utoronto.ca.|Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3E5.|Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3G9.
authors.forename: Eugenia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kumacheva
keywords: anisotropic surface tension; colloidal liquid crystals; liquid crystal droplets; nanoparticle self-assembly; topological defects