Nematic-nematic demixing in polydisperse thermotropic liquid crystals
arXiv:cond-mat/0501421 · doi:10.1063/1.1924604
Abstract
We consider the effects of polydispersity on isotropic-nematic phase equilibria in thermotropic liquid crystals, using a Maier-Saupe theory with factorized interactions. A sufficient spread (approx. 50%) in the interaction strengths of the particles leads to phase separation into two or more nematic phases, which can in addition coexist with an isotropic phase. The isotropic-nematic coexistence region widens dramatically as polydispersity is increased, leading to re-entrant isotropic-nematic phase separation in some regions of the phase diagram. We show that similar phenomena will occur also for non-factorized interactions as long as the interaction strength between any two particle species is lower than the mean of the intra-species interactions.
6 pages, revtex4, 4 figures included
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- Spinodal instabilities in polydisperse lyotropic nematics
- Interplay between columnar and smectic stability in suspensions of polydisperse colloidal platelets