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SUMMARY:Directed assembly in liquid crystals. Nanoparticles and nanodrople
 ts - de Pablo\, J (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
DTSTART:20130321T115000Z
DTEND:20130321T124000Z
UID:TALK44056@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Mustapha Amrani
DESCRIPTION:Liquid crystals are remarkably sensitive to interfacial intera
 ctions. Small perturbations at a liquid crystal interface can in fact be a
 mplified over relative long distances\, thereby providing the basis for a 
 wide range of applications. Our recent research efforts have focused on th
 e reverse phenomenon\; that is\, we have sought to manipulate the interfac
 ial assembly of nanoparticles or the organization of surface active molecu
 les by controlling the structure of a liquid crystal. This presentation wi
 ll consist of a review of the basic principles that are responsible for li
 quid crystal-mediated interactions\, followed by demonstrations of those p
 rinciples in the context of two types of systems. In the first\, a liquid 
 crystal is used to direct the assembly of nanoparticles\; through a combin
 ation of molecular and continuum models\, it is found that minute changes 
 in interfacial energy and particle size lead to liquid-crystal induced att
 ractions that can span multiple orders of magni tude. Theoretical predicti
 ons are confirmed by experimental observations\, which also suggest that L
 C-mediated assembly provides an effective means for fabrication of plasmon
 ic devices. In the second application\, the structure of a liquid crystal 
 is controlled by confinement. It is shown that when confined to submicron 
 droplets\, the morphology of the liquid crystal depends on a delicate bala
 nce between bulk and interfacial contributions to the free energy\; that b
 alance can be easily perturbed by adsorption of analytes at the interface\
 , thereby providing the basis for development of chemical or biological se
 nsors. Theoretical predictions also indicate that the three-dimensional or
 der of a liquid crystal can be projected onto a two-dimensional interface\
 , and give rise to novel nanostructures that are not found in simple isotr
 opic fluids. \n
LOCATION:Seminar Room 1\, Newton Institute
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