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Mesophase behaviour of polyhedral particles

File(s)
2011-01 Publication - Fernando Escobedo - Mesophase behaviour of polyhedral particles.pdf (926.23 KB)
Main article
Permanent Link(s)
https://hdl.handle.net/1813/30455
Collections
Energy and Sustainability Publications
Author
Agarwal, U.
Escobedo, F.A.
Abstract

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).

Sponsorship
This work was supported by a Department of Energy Basic Energy Science Grant ER46517. This publication is based on work supported in part by award no. KUS-C1-018-02, made by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).
Date Issued
2011-02-13
Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
Keywords
PHASE-BEHAVIOR
•
NANOPARTICLES
•
GOLD
•
NANOCRYSTALS
•
PACKINGS
•
CRYSTALS
•
CUBOIDS
•
FLUID
Related Version
http://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/v10/n3/pdf/nmat2959.pdf?WT.ec_id=NMAT-201103
Previously Published as
Nature Materials 10,230–235(2011)doi:10.1038/nmat2959
ISSN
1476-1122
Type
article

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