To understand the formation of chiral liquid crystalline phases, we propose a model that incorporates the Landau-de Gennes equation to capture the rod-like interaction dynamics of chiral liquid crystals; we utilize cellulose nanocrystals as our model mesogen. Our model focuses on the cessation of flow after shear, allowing for chiral structures to form during relaxation. We show how confinement and chiral strength alter the orientation of the helix director in chiral microstructures. We qualitatively describe our results using uniaxial order parameter calculations in which degrees of alignment for individual rods serves as a proxy for determining the helix director. The pitch, a characteristic length scale of the microstructure, is also computed using spatial Fast Fourier analysis. Lastly, we compare simulated micrographs against experiment.

Exploring cellulose nanocrystal dispersion dynamics: A Landau-de Gennes approach

255th National Meeting (2018)

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