Abstract
We study the liquid–crystalline phase behaviour of suspensions of hard colloidal platelets, in particular, the relationship between their size polydispersity and the stability of a nematic, columnar and smectic phase. A first–order nematic–to–columnar transition is observed for suspensions up to 25% polydispersity in platelet diameter (σD). However, at densities slightly above nematic–columnar coexistence, the columnar order appears to vanish in the case of σD = 25%, while columnar stability persists for σD = 17%. The observed tolerance of polydispersity in the columnar phase, being a two–dimensional crystal, seems remarkable in light of current predictions for the terminal polydispersity for hard–sphere crystallization and hard–rod smectic ordering.
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Schedule a callMore From: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
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