Abstract.
We investigate theoretically the wetting properties of cholesteric liquid crystals at a planar substrate. If the properties of substrate and of the interface are such that the cholesteric layers are not distorted, the wetting properties are similar to those of a nematic liquid crystal. If, on the other hand, the anchoring conditions force the distortion of the liquid crystal layers the wetting properties are altered, the free cholesteric-isotropic interface is non-planar and there is a layer of topological defects close to the substrate. These deformations can either promote or hinder the wetting of the substrate by a cholesteric, depending on the properties of the cholesteric liquid crystal.
Graphical abstract
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
J.S. Rowlinson, B. Widom, Molecular Theory of Capillarity (Clarendon Press, 1982)
Anupam Sengupta, Uros Tkalec, Christian Bahr, Soft Matter 7, 6542 (2011)
P.G. de Gennes, J. Prost, The Physics of Liquid Crystals, 2nd edition (Clarendon, Oxford, 1993)
B. Jérome, Rep. Prog. Phys. 54, 391 (1991)
P. Sheng, Phys. Rev. Lett. 37, 1059 (1976)
P. Sheng, Phys. Rev. A 26, 1610 (1982)
H. Yokoyama, S. Kobayashi, H. Kamei, Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst. 99, 39 (1983)
H. Hsiung, Th. Rasing, Y.R. Shen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 57, 3065 (1986)
A.K. Sen, D.E. Sullivan, Phys. Rev. A 35, 1391 (1987)
W. Chen, L.J. Martinez-Miranda, H. Hsiung, Y.R. Shen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 62, 1860 (1989)
B. Alkhairalla, H. Allinson, N. Boden, S.D. Evans, J.R. Henderson, Phys. Rev. E 59, 3033 (1999)
F.N. Braun, T.J. Sluckin, E. Velasco, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 8, 2741 (1996)
J.P. Bramble, S.D. Evans, J.R. Henderson, C. Anquetil, D.J. Cleaver, N.J. Smith, Liq. Cryst. 34, 1059 (2007)
L. Harnau, F. Penna, S. Dietrich, Phys. Rev. E 70, 021505 (2004)
P. Patrício, C.T. Pham, J.M. Romero-Enrique, Eur. Phys. J. E 26, 97 (2008)
J.M. Romero-Enrique, C.T. Pham, P. Patrício, Phys. Rev. E 82, 011707 (2010)
P. Patrício, J.M. Romero-Enrique, N.M. Silvestre, N.R. Bernardino, M.M. Telo da Gama, Mol. Phys. 109, 1067 (2011)
P. Patrício, N.M. Silvestre, C.T. Pham, J.M. Romero-Enrique, Phys. Rev. E 84, 021701 (2011)
O.A. Rojas-Gomez, J.M. Romero-Enrique, Phys. Rev. E 86, 041706 (2012)
N.M. Silvestre, Z. Eskandari, P. Patrício, J.M. Romero-Enrique, M.M. Telo da Gama, Phys. Rev. E 86, 011703 (2012)
R.S. Zola, L.R. Evangelista, Y.-C. Yang, D.-K. Yang, Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 057801 (2013)
Nelson Rei Bernardino, Maria Carolina Figueirinhas Pereira, Nuno Miguel Silvestre, Margarida Maria Telo da Gama, Soft Matter 10, 9399 (2014)
R. Meister, H. Dumoulin, M.-A. Hallé, P. Pieranski, J. Phys. II 6, 827 (1996)
R. Meister, M.-A. Hallé, H. Dumoulin, P. Pieranski, Phys. Rev. E 54, 3771 (1996)
Alfred Saupe, Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst. 21, 211 (1973)
Jun Yoshioka, Fumiya Ito, Yuto Suzuki, Hiroaki Takahashi, Hideaki Takizawa, Yuka Tabe, Soft Matter 10, 5869 (2014)
P. Rofouie, D. Pasini, Alejandro D. Rey, Colloids Interface Sci. Commun. 1, 23 (2014)
Pardis Rofouie, Damiano Pasini, Alejandro D. Rey, Soft Matter 11, 1127 (2015)
P. Patricio, M. Tasinkevych, M.M.T. da Gama, Eur. Phys. J. E 7, 117 (2002)
P.G. de Gennes, Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst. 12, 193 (1971)
J.S. Lintuvuori, A.C. Pawsey, K. Stratford, M.E. Cates, P.S. Clegg, D. Marenduzzo, Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 187801 (2013)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Silvestre, N., Figueirinhas Pereira, M., Bernardino, N. et al. Wetting of cholesteric liquid crystals. Eur. Phys. J. E 39, 13 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2016-16013-x
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2016-16013-x