Liquid-liquid crystalline phase separation in biological filamentous colloids: nucleation, growth and order-order transitions of cholesteric tactoids.

ABSTRACT: The process of liquid-liquid crystalline phase separation (LLCPS) in filamentous colloids is at the very core of multiple biological, physical and technological processes of broad significance. However, the complete theoretical understanding of the process is still missing. LLCPS involves the nucleation, growth and up-concentration of anisotropic droplets from a continuous isotropic phase, until a state of equilibrium is reached. Herein, by combining the thermodynamic extremum principle with the Onsager theory, we describe the nucleation and growth of liquid crystalline droplets, and the evolution of their size and concentration during phase separation, eventually leading to a multitude of order-order phase transitions. Furthermore, a decreasing pitch behaviour can be predicted using this

SUBMITTER: Azzari P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8279111 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature