Liquid crystal torons in Poiseuille-like flows

Amaral, GNC, Zhao, H, Sedahmed, M, Campante, T, Smalyukh, II, Tasinkevych, M ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6689-1844, Telo Da Gama, MM and Coelho, RCV, 2024. Liquid crystal torons in Poiseuille-like flows. Scientific Reports. ISSN 2045-2322 (Forthcoming)

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Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) simulations of the structure of liquid crystal (LC) torons, topologically protected distortions of the LC director field, under material flows are rare but essential in microflu-idic applications. Here, we show that torons adopt a steady-state configuration at low flow velocity before disintegrating at higher velocities, in line with experimental results. Furthermore, we show that under partial slip conditions at the boundaries, the flow induces a reversible elongation of the torons, also consistent with the experimental observations. These results are in contrast with previous simulation results for 2D skyrmions under similar flow conditions, highlighting the need for a 3D description of this LC soliton in relation to its coupling to the material flow. These findings pave the way for future studies of other topological solitons, like hopfions and heliknotons, in flowing soft matter systems.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Scientific Reports
Creators:	Amaral, G.N.C., Zhao, H., Sedahmed, M., Campante, T., Smalyukh, I.I., Tasinkevych, M., Telo Da Gama, M.M. and Coelho, R.C.V.
Publisher:	Nature Research
Date:	13 December 2024
ISSN:	2045-2322
Identifiers:	Number Type 2328623 Other
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	07 Jan 2025 16:24
Last Modified:	07 Jan 2025 16:24
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/52799

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