This article is cited in 1 paper

Liquid crystals

The principle of non-mechanical transport of a liquid crystal in thin capillaries

A. V. Zakharov, A. A. Vakulenko

Institute of Problems of Mechanical Engineering, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg

Abstract: The non-mechanical principle of transport of a liquid crystal (LC) encapsulated in a narrow cavity between two coaxially arranged cylinders is introduced based on the interaction of the temperature and director field gradients. The temperature gradient is created due to a heat flow from the inner cylinder surface, whereas the temperature on the outer cylinder surface is maintained constant. The director field gradient is caused by the deformation of the planar-oriented LC cavity upon exposure to a double electrostatic layer, which naturally appears at the LC phase-solid interface. The size of the gap between the bounding surfaces, cylinder curvatures, and thermal conditions are determined, which allow initiation of the LC phase flow in the horizontal direction.

Received: 18.01.2011

 English version: Physics of the Solid State, 2011, 53:8, 1732–1738

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