Date of Award
8-2024
Document Type
Campus Access Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Physics, Applied
First Advisor
Mohamed A. Gharbi
Second Advisor
Stephen Arnason
Third Advisor
Chandra Yelleswarapu
Abstract
In a recent study, Čopar implemented simulations using the Landau-de Gennes free energy approach and predicted that a liquid crystal (LC) phase can control the molecular alignment of a second adjacent LC material. Hence, a LC film can likely be used to align a different LC phase. We experimentally evaluate this prediction, using the interface between a lyotropic nematic LC and a thermotropic smectic liquid crystal with defects. We study the role of smectic interfaces in controlling the properties of the lyotropic film. We also investigate how the effective control of the lyotropic director field helps balance the competing forces that can control the behavior and dynamics of living microorganisms. This work paves the way for creating new procedures to control the assembly of active materials into reconfigurable assemblies that may find relevance in the field of biosensing.
Recommended Citation
Rolleri, John, "Interfacial Interaction Between Two Liquid Crystal Phases and Their Potential on Controlling the Dynamics of Living Microorganisms" (2024). Graduate Masters Theses. 851.
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/masters_theses/851
Comments
Free and open access to this Campus Access Thesis is made available to the UMass Boston community by ScholarWorks at UMass Boston. Those not on campus and those without a UMass Boston campus username and password may gain access to this thesis through resources like Proquest Dissertations & Theses Global (https://www.proquest.com/) or through Interlibrary Loan. If you have a UMass Boston campus username and password and would like to download this work from off-campus, click on the "Off-Campus UMass Boston Users