TY - JOUR
T1 - Aspect ratio and polydispersity dependence of isotropic-nematic transition in discotic suspensions
AU - Mejia, Andres F.
AU - Chang, Ya Wen
AU - Ng, Ratna
AU - Shuai, Min
AU - Mannan, M. Sam
AU - Cheng, Zhengdong
PY - 2012/6/20
Y1 - 2012/6/20
N2 - We demonstrate the strong dependency of the isotropic-nematic (I-N) transition of discotic suspensions on the aspect ratio (ξ = thickness/diameter) via control of the sizes of pristine ZrP crystals and subsequent exfoliation to monolayers. The size fractionation of the I-N transition facilitates the analysis of the effect of polydispersity. A systematic variation in the aspect ratio in the low aspect ratio region (0.001 < ξ < 0.01) showed that the I-N transition volume fraction increases with the aspect ratio in agreement with computer simulations. It was found that the transition volume fractions scale with aspect ratio φ I,N = mξ1.36 ±0.07, where the prefactor m strongly depends on size polydispersity for φ N but does not depend on size polydispersity for φ I with φ I and φ N being the volume fractions of the isotropic and the nematic phases on the cloud curves, respectively.
AB - We demonstrate the strong dependency of the isotropic-nematic (I-N) transition of discotic suspensions on the aspect ratio (ξ = thickness/diameter) via control of the sizes of pristine ZrP crystals and subsequent exfoliation to monolayers. The size fractionation of the I-N transition facilitates the analysis of the effect of polydispersity. A systematic variation in the aspect ratio in the low aspect ratio region (0.001 < ξ < 0.01) showed that the I-N transition volume fraction increases with the aspect ratio in agreement with computer simulations. It was found that the transition volume fractions scale with aspect ratio φ I,N = mξ1.36 ±0.07, where the prefactor m strongly depends on size polydispersity for φ N but does not depend on size polydispersity for φ I with φ I and φ N being the volume fractions of the isotropic and the nematic phases on the cloud curves, respectively.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84862881681&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevE.85.061708
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevE.85.061708
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84862881681
SN - 1539-3755
VL - 85
JO - Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
JF - Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
IS - 6
M1 - 061708
ER -