Physics – Condensed Matter – Soft Condensed Matter
Scientific paper
2004-03-01
Phys. Rev. E 70, 041707 (2004)
Physics
Condensed Matter
Soft Condensed Matter
9 pages, including 5 postscript figures, uses REVTeX 4
Scientific paper
10.1103/PhysRevE.70.041707
When liquid-crystalline elastomers pass through the isotropic-nematic transition, the orientational order parameter and the elastic strain vary rapidly but smoothly, without the expected first-order discontinuity. This broadening of the phase transition is an important issue for applications of liquid-crystalline elastomers as actuators or artificial muscles. To understand this behavior, we develop a lattice model of liquid-crystalline elastomers, with local directors coupled to a global strain variable. In this model, we can consider either random-bond disorder (representing chemical heterogeneity) or random-field disorder (representing heterogeneous local stresses). Monte Carlo simulations show that both types of disorder cause the first-order isotropic-nematic transition to broaden into a smooth crossover, consistent with the experiments. For random-field disorder, the smooth crossover into an ordered state can be attributed to the long-range elastic interaction.
Ratna Banahalli R.
Selinger Jonathan V.
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