Control of free-surface flow morphologies in anisotropic liquids
Lead Research Organisation:
Nottingham Trent University
Department Name: School of Science & Technology
Abstract
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People |
ORCID iD |
| Carl Brown (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Bhadwal A
(2022)
Behind the screens: the crystals that flow like rain down a windowpane
in Futurum Careers
Cousins JRL
(2023)
Weak-anchoring effects in a thin pinned ridge of nematic liquid crystal.
in Physical review. E
J. R. L. Cousins
(2023)
Weak-anchoring effects in a thin pinned ridge of nematic liquid crystal
in Physical Review E
| Description | (1) Flow of nematic liquid crystal material between parallel plates (Work Package 1): We created a thin flowing layer of planar aligned nematic liquid crystal material between parallel plates and subjected this to an electric field in a direction orthogonal to the flow direction. The nematic liquid crystal had positive dielectric anisotropy and so the electric field tended to re-orient the molecular director orthogonal to the layer and to the flow direction. We have demonstrated how Poiseuille flow significantly extends the low director distortion state to higher voltages, and how the electrode geometry removes the tilt re-orientation direction degeneracy of the classical Fréedericksz switching. We observed switching between the flow stabilized, low director distortion state and the flow modified high director distortion state via abrupt removal and re-application of externally driven flow. (2) Static liquid ridge (Work Package 2): We have created thin, nematic ridges covering an area of 6 mm long and 1.2 mm wide. The ridge had "flat" planar alignment on the nematic-solid interface and "perpendicular" homeotropic alignment at nematic-air interface. We found that these hybrid planar-homeotropic alignment conditions lead to the formation of two mirrored hybrid aligned domains, that were separated by a disclination line that runs through the centre along the length of the ridge. We found that in both the domains anchoring breaking occurs near nematic-substrate-air three-phase contact line at a critical thickness of the ridge. The liquid crystal director alignment in this region is determined by the solid nematic interface that has stronger anchoring strength relative to nematic-air interface. We also found that decreasing the maximum thickness of the ridge increases the extent of the planar region. Using interferometry, we observed an increase in the effective refractive value and a decrease in the director angle which demonstrates successful anchoring breaking near the three-phase contact line. We have combined the theory and the experimental measurements of the ridge thickness and position dependent molecular "director" orientation to find a value for the anchoring strength at the nematic-air interface. (3) Flowing rivulet dynamic experiments (Work Package 3): We investigated the effect of electric fields on the free surface of a straight nematic rivulet that had pinned contact lines at its edges. The rivulet flow was confined along a wetting patch due to a chemical treatment of the solid surface, which also gave "perpendicular" homeotropic alignment on the nematic-solid interface. In the absence of the electric field the liquid crystal molecular director aligned along the direction of the flow at a flow alignment angle, with no change in the free surface shape of the rivulet. However, when we applied a localized A.C. voltage orthogonal to the direction of the rivulet flow, the electric field re-oriented the director orthogonal to the flow resulting a change in the effective bulk viscosity of the nematic liquid crystal material. As a result, the flow rate locally decreases, the height of the rivulet increases, and the cross-sectional free surface shape of the rivulet changes drastically. Our theory and experimental measurements of the rivulet height with and without the applied voltage, and at different flow rates, are in excellent agreement. |
| Exploitation Route | The results may be relevant to flexible liquid crystal display devices in which the liquid crystal layer can be subject to shear when the device is in use. |
| Sectors | Chemicals,Electronics |
| Description | Gradient flow dynamics of wetting phenomena in confined geometries |
| Amount | £900 (GBP) |
| Organisation | London Mathematical Society |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 05/2022 |
| End | 07/2022 |
| Description | Collaboration with Nottingham Trent University |
| Organisation | Nottingham Trent University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | This grant is twinned with EPSRC grant EP/T012986/1 held at Nottingham Trent University, with the Glasgow-Strathclyde group undertaking theoretical modelling. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Nottingham Trent University group undertake experimental studies. |
| Impact | All outputs detailed in this Researchfish entry. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | "Behind the screens: the crystals that flow like rain down a windowpane" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Article in Futurum Careers (https://futurumcareers.com/about-us) online resource and magazine aimed at introducing 14-19-year-olds worldwide to the world of work in STEM (science, tech, engineering, maths, medicine) and SHAPE (social sciences, humanities and the arts for people and the economy). There were 7,674 article page views and 12,934 people reached via Facebook. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://futurumcareers.com/behind-the-screens-the-crystals-that-flow-like-rain-down-a-windowpane |
| Description | "Rivers on a Window Pane" at Science Fun Day at Mansfield Library |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | "Rivers on a Window Pane" at Science Fun Day at Mansfield Library at Nottingham Festival of Science and Curiosity, Akhshay Bhadwal and Joseph Cousins 11 February 10:00 am - 2:00 pm, Free public event, Mansfield Central Library (Four Seasons Centre, W Gate, Mansfield, NG18 1NH). Organised with Ignite! (info@ignitefutures.org.uk, www.ignitefutures.org.uk) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://nottsfosac.co.uk/2023-festival/ |
| Description | BAMC 2021: "A static thin ridge of nematic liquid crystal" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Contributed oral presentation: "A static thin ridge of nematic liquid crystal", Joseph R. L. Cousins (presenter), Brian R. Duffy, Nigel J. Mottram, Stephen K. Wilson, The British Mathematics/British Applied Mathematics Colloquium 2021, Minisymposium on Theory and modelling of liquid crystalline fluids, Glasgow, UK, 6-9 April 2021 (online). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://sites.google.com/view/bmcbamc2021/home |
| Description | British Applied Mathematics Colloquium (BAMC), Loughborough University UK (hybrid), oral |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | British Applied Mathematics Colloquium (BAMC), Loughborough University UK (hybrid), oral |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | British Liquid Crystal Society Annual Conference, Young Scientist Award Presentation, University of the West of England, invited oral |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | British Liquid Crystal Society Annual Conference, Young Scientist Award Presentation, University of the West of England, invited oral |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | British Society of Rheology Mid-Winter Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | British Society of Rheology Mid-Winter Meeting (Durham, Virtual) (BSR Vernon Harrison Award Prize Lecture), 12th and 13th December 2022 Talk by postdoctoral research on this project (Dr J. R. L. Cousins) on research from this project |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | British Society of Rheology Mid-Winter Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | British Society of Rheology Mid-Winter Meeting (Durham, Virtual) (BSR Annual Award Prize Lecture), 12th and 13th December 2022 Talk by collaborator (Prof. S. K. Wilson) on the work we have undertaken in this project |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Conference presentation "Nematic liquid crystal rivulets" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Conference oral presentation "Nematic liquid crystal rivulets", A.S. Bhadwal, Annual Conference of the British Liquid Crystal Society, 11-13 April 2022, University of the West of England |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://cfpr.uwe.ac.uk/11-13-april-2022-annual-conference-of-the-british-liquid-crystal-society/ |
| Description | Contributed Oral presentation: "Electrically controlled topological micro cargo transportation" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Contributed Oral presentation: "Electrically controlled topological micro cargo transportation", BLCS Annual Meeting 2021, 21st-24th June 2021, University of Aberdeen, Online event. Akhshay S. Bhadwal (presenter), Nigel J. Mottram, Antariksh Saxena, Ian. C. Sage, Carl V. Brown. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.blcs2020.org/ |
| Description | Contributed Oral presentation: "Multiplicity of solutions and wetting transitions for nematic liquid crystal ridges" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Contributed Oral presentation: "Multiplicity of solutions and wetting transitions for nematic liquid crystal ridges", Joseph R L Cousins (presenter), Stephen K Wilson, Brian R Duffy and Nigel J Mottram, Minisymposium MS64 "Interface morphologies in liquid crystalline materials" at SIAM MS21 online Conference on Mathematical Aspects of Materials Science, organised by Basque Centre for Applied Mathematics, Spain, 17-28 May 2021. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://wp.bcamath.org/siamms21/?page_id=1629 |
| Description | Contributed Oral presentation: "The role of elasticity in a thin flowing nematic layer under electric field" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Contributed Oral presentation: "The role of elasticity in a thin flowing nematic layer under electric field", C.V. Brown (presenter), A.S. Bhadwal, I.C. Sage, N.J. Mottram, and G. McKay, Minisymposium MS64 "Interface morphologies in liquid crystalline materials" at SIAM MS21 online Conference on Mathematical Aspects of Materials Science, organised by Basque Centre for Applied Mathematics, Spain, 17-28 May 2021. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://wp.bcamath.org/siamms21/?page_id=1629 |
| Description | Contributed oral conference presentation, "Electrically controlled topological microcargo transportation", |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Contributed oral conference presentation, "Electrically controlled topological microcargo transportation", Akhshay S. Bhadwal, Nigel J. Mottram, Antariksh Saxena, Ian C. Sage, and Carl V. Brown, 28th International Liquid Crystal Conference, Lisbon (hybrid), Portugal, 24-29 July 2022. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://ilcc2022.org/ |
| Description | DOS meeting 2021: "Non-uniqueness of Equilibrium States for a Static Ridge of Nematic Liquid Crystals" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Contributed oral presentation: "Non-uniqueness of Equilibrium States for a Static Ridge of Nematic Liquid Crystals", Joseph R. L. Cousins (presenter), Brian R. Duffy, Nigel J. Mottram, Stephen K. Wilson, Durham-Oxford-Strathclyde Meeting in Anisotropic Materials, University of Durham, UK, 13 September 2021 (online). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://people.maths.ox.ac.uk/griffit4/bos.shtml |
| Description | Droplet and Flow Interactions with Bio-inspired and Smart Surfaces, SIG meeting 202 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Contributed presentation: "Liquid crystals Rivulets" Akhshay S. Bhadwal (Presenter), Joseph R. L. Cousins, Nigel J. Mottram, Stephen K. Wilson, Ian C. Sage, Carl V. Brown, Droplet and Flow Interactions with Bio-inspired and Smart Surfaces, SIG meeting, Durham, UK, 14 & 15 November 2022 in Durham, UK (attended in person) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://fluids.ac.uk/sig/SmartSurfaces |
| Description | Droplets 2021 poster: "Governing equations and solution multiplicities for a static ridge of nematic liquid crystal" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Contributed poster presentation: "Governing equations and solution multiplicities for a static ridge of nematic liquid crystal", Joseph R. L. Cousins (presenter), Brian R. Duffy, Nigel J. Mottram, Stephen K. Wilson, Droplets 2021, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany, 16-18 August 2021 (online). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.sfb1194.tu-darmstadt.de/droplets_2021/index.en.jsp |
| Description | Green's windmill outreach event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Free entry "Physics with NTU" public engagement and outreach event as Green's Windmill and Science Centre (www.greensmill.org.uk), Windmill Lane, Nottingham NG2 4QB. A hands on activity using pasta and rice to explain "photochromic films" that change their colour at different temperatures, that are based on chiral liquid crystal materials. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.facebook.com/greenswindmill/photos/a.987149144802914/1953385514845934/?type=3 |
| Description | International Liquid Crystal Conference, NOVA School of Science and Technology, Lisbon, 2×poster |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | International Liquid Crystal Conference, NOVA School of Science and Technology, Lisbon, 2×poster |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Minisymposium "Interface morphologies in liquid crystalline materials" MS64 at the SIAM MS21 online Conference on Mathematical Aspects of Materials Science. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Minisymposium "Interface morphologies in liquid crystalline materials" MS64 at the SIAM MS21 online Conference on Mathematical Aspects of Materials Science. The main conference, SIAM MS21 (https://wp.bcamath.org/siamms21/), was organised by Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, Arghir Zarnescu (Basque Centre for Applied Mathematics, Spain), co-chairs are also Rustum Choksi (McGill University, Canada) and Dmitry Golovaty (University of Akron, USA). It took place May 17-28, 2021. The Mini-symposium MS64 took place on 21 May 2021 and 24 May 2021 and this was jointly organised by the PIs and Research Fellows on EPSRC projects EP/T012986/1 and EP/T012501/1 (https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FT012986%2F1). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://wp.bcamath.org/siamms21/?page_id=1629 |
| Description | NJIT seminar: "Governing Equations and Solution Multiplicities for a Static Ridge of Nematic Liquid Crystal" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Seminar series: "Governing Equations and Solution Multiplicities for a Static Ridge of Nematic Liquid Crystal", Joseph R. L. Cousins (presenter), Brian R. Duffy, Nigel J. Mottram, Stephen K. Wilson, Fluid Mechanics and Waves Seminar, Department of Mathematical Sciences, New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA, 29 March 2021 (online). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://math.njit.edu/fluid-mechanics-and-waves-seminar-spring-2021 |
| Description | Nottingham Trent University Soft Matter Group Research Group Seminar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Nottingham Trent University Soft Matter Group Research Group Seminar, 9th February 2023 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Public engagement activity: Liquid Crystals at Curious Rebels: Nottingham Castle's Lates Programme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Experiments and hands on activities engaging 200 members of the public in the recently re-opened Nottingham Caste as part of the Castle's "Curious Rebels" Lates Programme. Academics and students demonstrated a wide range of experiments that show the wonders of physics, from exploring the night sky, to seeing how an image can be used to create a sound, to measuring the speed of bubbles, and to understanding the science behind liquid crystals. Thursday 24 February 2022, Carl V. Brown (presenter), Thomas Hayward (presenter) and Akhshay S. Bhadwal. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/TrentUni/status/1496911594885947399?cxt=HHwWjoC5lcTKjMYpAAAA |
| Description | Royal Society of Edinburgh Network Meeting, Nematic-Based Materials for the Next Generation of Applications |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Royal Society of Edinburgh Network Meeting, Nematic-Based Materials for the Next Generation of Applications, University of Glasgow, invited oral |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/mathematicsstatistics/staff/nigelmottram/rsenetworknov2022/ |
| Description | STEM for Britain poster 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Contributed poster presentation: "MATHEMATICAL MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF INDUSTRIAL MANUFACTURING OF LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAYS", Joseph R. L. Cousins (presenter), Nigel J. Mottram, Stephen K. Wilson, STEM for Britain 2022, Houses of Parliament, UK, 7 March 2022. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://stemforbritain.org.uk/ |
| Description | Science in Park outreach event at Wollaton Hall, Nottingham |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Experiments and hands on activities engaging nearly 1000 members of the public in the Wollaton Hall, Nottingham. Academics and students demonstrated a wide range of experiments demonstrating the science of microfluidics and liquid crystals physics. Saturday 11th March 2023, Free public event, Wollaton hall, Nottingham, Akhshay Bhadwal (Presenter), Jacob Aniyan (Presenter). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://wollatonhall.org.uk/science-in-the-park/ |
| Description | Seminar series, University of Strathclyde, invited oral |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Seminar series, University of Strathclyde, invited oral |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Strathclyde Liquid Crystal Reading Group 2021: "Weak Anchoring Effects in a Pinned Ridge of Nematic Liquid Crystal" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Contributed oral presentation: "Weak Anchoring Effects in a Pinned Ridge of Nematic Liquid Crystal", Joseph R. L. Cousins (presenter), Akhshay S. Bhadwal, Lindsey T. Corson, Brian R. Duffy, Ian C. Sage, Carl V. Brown, Nigel J. Mottram, Stephen K. Wilson, The Strathclyde Liquid Crystal Reading Group: Meeting 2, University of Strathclyde, UK, 9 December 2021 (online). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1358314X.2021.2036433 |
| Description | The Institute of Physics 3 Minute Wonder Competition, East Midlands Regional Heat |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Three Minute Wonder is the Institute of Physics UK and Ireland-wide science communication competition. It challenges researchers or project team members to explain their work to the public in just three minutes. Participants work in physics or physics-related fields in academia, business and/or industry. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.iop.org/3mw |
| Description | UK Fluids 2021: "Governing equations and solution multiplicities for a static ridge of nematic liquid crystal" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Contributed oral presentation: "Governing equations and solution multiplicities for a static ridge of nematic liquid crystal", Joseph R. L. Cousins (presenter), Brian R. Duffy, Nigel J. Mottram, Stephen K. Wilson, UK Fluids Conference, University of Southampton, UK, 8-10 September 2021 (online). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.southampton.ac.uk/engineering/news/events/2021/09/10-uk-fluids-conference-2021.page |