Influence of pore shape on the structure of a nanoconfined Gay-Berne liquid crystal

Q Ji and R Lefort and D Morineau, CHEMICAL PHYSICS LETTERS, 478, 161-165 (2009).

DOI: 10.1016/j.cplett.2009.07.062

We present results from molecular dynamics simulations of a Gay-Berne mesogenic system GB(4.4,20,1,1) under short scale spatial confinement in a slab, a cylinder and a sphere geometry. The structure adopted by the confined phases is characterized by the density pro. le and the orientational order parameter as a function of temperature, and compared to the bulk. Though confinement always induces a strong surface ordering, the topological constrain introduced by the different pore shapes results in different molecular arrangements. This first study on pore shape effect on the structure of a nanoconfined Gay-Berne system is relevant to numerous experimental studies performed with different mesoporous matrices. (C) 2009 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.

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