Odd–Even Effects in the Dynamics of Liquid Crystalline Thin Films on the Surface of Single Walled Carbon and Silicon Carbide Nanotubes: Computer Simulation Study

Abstract

Translational and reorientational dynamics of monolayer films of n-cyanobiphenyl (with n = 5–8) series of mesogens on the surface of single walled carbon nanotubes and heterogeneous silicon carbide nanotubes has been studied using molecular dynamics computer simulation. Activation characteristic of diffusion of the mesogens on the surface of the heterogeneous nanotube is selective with respect to the number of carbon atoms in the aliphatic tail of the mesogen, opposite to the case of the mesogens on the surface of the homogeneous carbon nanotube, which reveals nonselective activation. The orientational order parameter ⟨P2⟩ and thermal activation energy of dipolar relaxation of the studied systems also exhibit a characteristic odd–even pattern with respect to the length of the hydrocarbon chain of the mesogen molecule.