Confinement induced splay-to-bend transition of colloidal rods.

We study the nematic phase of rodlike f d-virus particles confined to channels with wedge-structured walls. Using laser scanning confocal microscopy we observe a splay-to-bend transition at the single particle level as a function of the wedge opening angle. Lattice Boltzmann simulations reveal the u...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Principais autores: Dammone, O, Zacharoudiou, I, Dullens, R, Yeomans, J, Lettinga, M, Aarts, D
Formato: Journal article
Idioma:English
Publicado em: 2012
Descrição
Resumo:We study the nematic phase of rodlike f d-virus particles confined to channels with wedge-structured walls. Using laser scanning confocal microscopy we observe a splay-to-bend transition at the single particle level as a function of the wedge opening angle. Lattice Boltzmann simulations reveal the underlying origin of the transition and its dependence on nematic elasticity and wedge geometry. Our combined work provides a simple method to estimate the splay-to-bend elasticity ratios of the virus and offers a way to control the position of defects through the confining boundary conditions.