Properties of n-Cyanobiphenyl Nematogene Phases Formed Between Carbon Nanotube Arrays: Computer Simulation Study

Abstract

The anchoring effect of the mesogens on different substrates is particularly interesting because of fundamental reasons as well as because of wide practical applications. In this work, we use molecular dynamics computer simulations to study the effect of embedding n-cyanobiphenyl molecules between two arrays of carbon nanotubes. We examine the effect of distance between the nanotube planes on the ordering and mobility of the mesogenic phase formed in such confinement. We assess the temperature stability and uniaxial ordering imposed by the nanotube array.