Project Details: "Simulation of chromonic liquid crystals"
Chromonics are a fascinating class of lyotropic liquid crystals, which are usually formed in water from plate-like molecules. These self-assemble into aggregate stacks, which in turn assemble to form liquid crystal mesophases. Recently, there has been greatly enhanced interest in chromonics materials as functional materials for fabricating highly ordered thin films, as biosensors, and chromonic stacks have also been used to aid in the controllable self-assembly of gold nanorods.
The aim of the project is to understand self-assembly in chromonic liquid crystal materials. The project will involve atomistic simulation and development of new coarse-grained simulation models to look at self-assembly and the formation of mesophases.
The project builds upon recently
published work by the group:
Molecular Order in a Chromonic Liquid Crystal:
A Molecular Simulation Study of the Anionic Azo Dye Sunset Yellow.
Fatima Chami and Mark R. Wilson*,
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2010, 132, 7794-7802.
The article may be found at the URL link along with supporting information.
Closing date: end February 2011.