Speeding up Dynamics by Tuning the Noncommensurate Size of Rodlike Particles in a Smectic Phase

Massimiliano Chiappini, Eric Grelet, and Marjolein Dijkstra
Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 087801 – Published 26 February 2020
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Abstract

Using simulations, we study the diffusion of rodlike guest particles in a smectic environment of rodlike host particles. We find that the dynamics of guest rods across smectic layers changes from a fast nematiclike diffusion to a slow hopping-type dynamics via an intermediate switching regime by varying the length of the guest rods with respect to the smectic layer spacing. We determine the optimal rod length that yields the fastest and the slowest diffusion in a lamellar environment. We show that this behavior can be rationalized by a complex 1D effective periodic potential exhibiting two energy barriers, resulting in a varying preferred mean position of the guest particle in the smectic layer. The interplay of these two barriers controls the dynamics of the guest particles yielding a slow, an intermediate, and a fast diffusion regime depending on the particle length.

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  • Received 5 December 2019
  • Accepted 4 February 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.087801

© 2020 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Polymers & Soft Matter

Authors & Affiliations

Massimiliano Chiappini1,*, Eric Grelet2, and Marjolein Dijkstra1,†

  • 1Soft Condensed Matter, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Department of Physics, Utrecht University, Princetonplein 1, Utrecht 3584 CC, The Netherlands
  • 2Centre de Recherche Paul-Pascal, UMR 5031, CNRS & Université de Bordeaux, 115 Avenue Schweitzer, 33600 Pessac, France

  • *m.chiappini@uu.nl
  • m.dijkstra@uu.nl

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Issue

Vol. 124, Iss. 8 — 28 February 2020

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