Abstract
The paper demonstrates an AC electrophoresis of symmetric homogeneous spheres placed in a liquid crystal that is driven by an electric field-induced solitary wave of molecular orientation around the sphere. In this soliton-driven AC electrophoresis, the direction of colloidal transport can be controlled by the frequency and amplitude of the applied field, which expands substantially the capability of electrophoresis to manipulate colloids.
Highlights
An electric field acting on a nematic liquid crystal produces a number of nonlinear nonequilibrium phenomena with a rich spectrum of spatiotemporal patterns in the director field n (r, t ) that specifies the average local orientation of the molecules [1,2,3]
The director fields around the spheres at high frequences f = (90−700) Hz are similar to the so-called directrons B9h0 described in Ref. [4], while the dresses forming at f = (5−40) Hz are similar to the directrons of Bαl described in Ref. [5]
It is known that colloidal particles placed in a liquid crystal electrolyte can become mobile when the director field around them is of dipolar symmetry
Summary
An electric field acting on a nematic liquid crystal produces a number of nonlinear nonequilibrium phenomena with a rich spectrum of spatiotemporal patterns in the director field n (r, t ) that specifies the average local orientation of the molecules [1,2,3]. “Topologically unprotected” means that the self-confined configuration is formed by a smooth director deformation from the uniform state; there is no topological charge associated with such a soliton. Since these formations are self-confined waves of the director field that survive collisions, an appropriate term for them is “directrons,” that we use as a synonym for director bullets in what follows. The so-called liquid crystal enabled electrophoresis (LCEP) that relies on the dipolar asymmetry of the director configuration around particles that exist prior to the electric field application [11,12,13] is ineffective because n (r, t ) around a tangential sphere is of higher quadrupolar symmetry. The motility of the spheres requires a formation of the directrons, we call the effect a directron-induced liquid crystal enabled electrophoresis (DI-LCEP)
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