Physics – Condensed Matter – Soft Condensed Matter
Scientific paper
2010-09-02
Physics
Condensed Matter
Soft Condensed Matter
accepted by J Chem Phys; 10 pages, 10 figures
Scientific paper
In the wake of previous studies on the rattling-and-jumping diffusion in smectic liquid crystal phases of colloidal rods, we analyze here for the first time the heterogeneous dynamics in columnar phases. More specifically, we perform computer simulations to investigate the relaxation dynamics of a binary mixture of perfectly aligned hard spherocylinders. We detect that the columnar arrangement of the system produces free-energy barriers the particles should overcome to jump from one column to another, thus determining a hopping-type diffusion. This phenomenon accounts for the non-Gaussian inter-column diffusion and shows a two-step structural relaxation which is remarkably analogous to that of out-of-equilibrium glass-forming systems and gels. Surprisingly enough, slight deviations from the behavior of simple liquids due to transient cages is also observed in the direction perpendicular to this plane, where the system is usually referred to as liquid-like.
Belli Simone
Dijkstra Marjolein
Patti Alessandro
Roij René van
No associations
LandOfFree
Heterogeneous Dynamics in Columnar Liquid Crystals of Parallel Hard Rods does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Heterogeneous Dynamics in Columnar Liquid Crystals of Parallel Hard Rods, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Heterogeneous Dynamics in Columnar Liquid Crystals of Parallel Hard Rods will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-375692