Optically driven translational and rotational motions of microrod particles in a nematic liquid crystal.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 25624507.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1073/pnas.1419850112 and PMC identifier 4330760.
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Abstract
A small amount of azo-dendrimer molecules dissolved in a liquid crystal enables translational and rotational motions of microrods in a liquid crystal matrix under unpolarized UV light irradiation. This motion is initiated by a light-induced trans-to-cis conformational change of the dendrimer adsorbed at the rod surface and the associated director reorientation. The bending direction of the cis conformers is not random but is selectively chosen due to the curved local director field in the vicinity of the dendrimer-coated surface. Different types of director distortions occur around the rods, depending on their orientations with respect to the nematic director field. This leads to different types of motions driven by the torques exerted on the particles by the director reorientations.