Short-range dynamics of a nematic liquid-crystalline phase
Résumé
Using X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy, we studied the dynamics in the nematic phase of a nanorod suspension. The collective diffusion coefficient in the plane perpendicular to the director varies sharply with the wave vector. Combining the structure factor and the diffusion coefficient we find that the hydrodynamic function of the phase decreases by more than a factor of ten when going from length scales comparable to the inter-particle distance towards larger values. Thus, the collective dynamics of the nematic phase experiences strong and scale-dependent slowing down, in contrast with isotropic suspensions of slender rods or of spherical particles.
Domaines
Matière Molle [cond-mat.soft]
Origine : Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s)
Loading...