Instabilities of nematic liquid crystal films

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-1-2021

Abstract

We discuss instabilities exhibited by free surface nematic liquid crystal (NLC) films of nanoscale thickness deposited on solid substrates, with a focus on surface instabilities that lead to dewetting. Such instabilities have been discussed extensively; however, there is still no consensus regarding the interpretation of experimental results, appropriate modeling approaches, or instability mechanisms. Instabilities of thin NLC free surface films are related to a wider class of problems involving dewetting of non-Newtonian fluids. For nanoscale films, the substrate–film interaction, often modeled by a suitable disjoining pressure, becomes relevant. For NLCs, one can extend the formulation to include the elastic energy of the NLC film, leading to an ‘effective’ disjoining pressure, playing an important role in instability development. Focusing on thin film modeling within the framework of the long-wave asymptotic model, we discuss various instability mechanisms and outline problems where new research is needed.

Identifier

85110320563 (Scopus)

Publication Title

Current Opinion in Colloid and Interface Science

External Full Text Location

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cocis.2021.101478

e-ISSN

18790399

ISSN

13590294

Volume

55

Grant

CBET-1604351

Fund Ref

National Science Foundation

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