Nontrivial electrophoresis of silica nano and microrods in a nematic liquid crystal.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35924926.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1039/d2sm00675h.
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Abstract
We study DC and AC electrophoresis of silica nano and microrods in a thin film of a nematic liquid crystal. These particles induce virtual topological defects and demonstrate nontrivial electrophoresis. We measure several electrophoretic mobility coefficients and compare with those calculated theoretically. We demonstrate a competing effect of elastic and electrostatic torques that arises due to tilting of the rods in the liquid crystal. A simple theory describing this effect allows us to measure the effective polarisability of the rods. Our approach is simple and applicable to a wide variety of asymmetric and polarisable particles.