Influence of pore shape on the structure of a nanoconfined Gay-Berne liquid crystal

We present results from molecular dynamics simulations of a Gay-Berne mesogenic system GB(4.4,20,1,1) under short scale spatial confinement in a slab, a cylinder and a sphere geometry. The structure adopted by the confined phases is characterized by the density profile and the orientational order parameter as a function of temperature, and compared to the bulk. Though confinement always induces a strong surface ordering, the topological constrain introduced by the different pore shapes results in different molecular arrangements. This first study on pore shape effect on the structure of a nanoconfined Gay-Berne system is relevant to numerous experimental studies performed with different mesoporous matrices.

Snapshot of an instantaneous configuration of a liquid crystal confined in a sphere.