Abstract
In this brief review, we give an introduction to selected colloidal and microfluidic nematic microstructures, as enabled by the inherent anisotropy and microscopic orientational ordering in complex liquid crystalline materials. We give a brief overview of the mesoscopic theory, for equilibrium and dynamics, of nematic fluids, that provides the framework for understanding, characterization, and even prediction of such microstructures, with particular comment also on the role of topology and topological defects. Three types of nematic microstructures are highlighted: stable or metastable structures in nematic colloids based on spherical colloidal particles, stationary nematic microfluidic structures, and ferromagnetic liquid crystal structures based on magnetic colloidal particles. Finally, this paper is in honor of Noel A. Clark, as one of the world pioneers that helped to shape this field of complex and functional soft matter, contributing at different levels to works of various groups worldwide, including ours.
Highlights
IntroductionLiquid crystals, discovered in the late nineteenth century, attracted attention for a long period as materials with fascinating optical textures
Introduction to Colloidal and Microfluidic NematicMicrostructuresSimon Copar 1,†, Miha Ravnik 1,2,† and Slobodan Žumer 2,1,*,†2 J
We introduce basic topological aspects of nematic defect structures formed in colloidal and confined fluidic liquid crystal systems, where some segments of Noel Clark’s research closely relate to the topics of our review
Summary
Liquid crystals, discovered in the late nineteenth century, attracted attention for a long period as materials with fascinating optical textures. As a post-doc, Noel Clark was attracted to the fast-growing field devoted to the physics of liquid crystals He started with light scattering and dynamics of nematics [9] and thin smectic layers [10]. More detailed studies showed that, in the homeotropic case, an asymmetric structure with a hyperbolic hedgehog can form, which widened the possibilities for different inter particle interactions in such colloidal dispersions [34,35,36,37] This stimulated the formation of various 2D nematic colloidal lattices [38,39], 3D lattices [40], and structures in complex confinement [41]. Throughout the text, we give references to selected works by Clark that contributed to the discussed topic
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
