Cholesteric liquid crystal phase variations within nanotubes: an in-depth analysis of the influences of twist radius and molecular pitch

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ABSTRACT This study investigates the self-assembly and phase transitions of cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) when confined in nanotubes, specifically focusing on the variations in their molecular structures. A dissipative particle dynamics method was used to investigate how the changes in helix radius ( r LC ) and pitch ( P ) affect the behaviour of the LCs. For pitches of 24, 12, and 6, the orientation order parameter ( P 2 ) showed distinct trends during cooling. Smaller helix radii resulted in isotropic to nematic to smectic phase transitions, whereas larger radii resulted in a novel smectic phase with spiral structures (Sm s ). Circumferential local-order parameters ( P 2 r and P 2 z ) were introduced to better characterise the phases, and a disordered spiral-structure phase (Sm s 2 ) with local perturbations was observed. The transitions between isotropic, nematic, and smectic phases, highlighting the influence of the pitch and helix radius, were observed from the phase diagrams. Smaller pitches and radii prevented the formation of stable structures; however, specific combinations induced characteristic spiral structures in the smectic phase. These results provide new insights into the self-assembly of confined CLCs, which have potential applications in the design of photonic devices and LC-based sensors. This study advances our understanding of phase control in quasi-one-dimensional systems and highlights the importance of molecular variations in liquid crystal behaviour.