Coupling of nematic in-plane orientational ordering and equilibrium shapes of closed flexible nematic shells

Mesarec, Luka (author), Góźdź, Wojciech (author), Kralj-Iglič, Veronika (author), Kralj, Samo (author), Iglič, Aleš (author)

The impact of the intrinsic curvature of in-plane orientationally ordered curved flexible nematic molecules attached to closed 3D flexible shells was studied numerically. A Helfrich-Landau-de Gennes-type mesoscopic approach was adopted where the flexible shell’s curvature field and in-plane nematic field are coupled and concomitantly determined in the process of free energy minimisation. We demonstrate that this coupling has the potential to generate a rich diversity of qualitatively new shapes of closed 3D nematic shells and the corresponding specific in-plane orientational ordering textures, which strongly depend on the shell’s volume-to-surface area ratio, so farnot predicted in mesoscopic-type numerical studies of 3D shapes of closed flexible nematic shells.

• Language: English
• Keywords: orientational ordering, curved nematic molecules, flexible nematic shells, equilibrium shapes, relative volume
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FE - Faculty of Electrical Engineering; ZF - Faculty of Health Sciences
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2023
• Number of pages: Str. 1-11
• Numbering: 13, article number 10663
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-148227
• UDC: 544.252.22
• ISSN on article: 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-37664-2
• COBISS.SI-ID: 157604867
• Publication date in RUL: 03.08.2023

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Scientific reports
• Shortened title: Sci. rep.
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• ISSN: 2045-2322
• COBISS.SI-ID: 18727432

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: orientacijski red, ukrivljene nematične molekule, fleksibilne nematične lupine, ravnovesne oblike, relativni volumen