Stochastic kinetics reveal imperative role of anisotropic interfacial tension to determine morphology and evolution of nucleated droplets in nematogenic films.

ABSTRACT: For isotropic fluids, classical nucleation theory predicts the nucleation rate, barrier height and critical droplet size by ac- counting for the competition between bulk energy and interfacial tension. The nucleation process in liquid crystals is less understood. We numerically investigate nucleation in monolayered nematogenic films using a mesoscopic framework, in par- ticular, we study the morphology and kinetic pathway in spontaneous formation and growth of droplets of the stable phase in the metastable background. The parameter κ that quantifies the anisotropic elastic energy plays a central role in determining the geometric structure of the droplets. Noncircular nematic droplets with homogeneous director orientation are nucleated in a background of supercooled isotropic phase for smal

SUBMITTER: Bhattacharjee AK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5213422 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature