Analysis of Self-Assembled Nanoparticle Capsules via Phase Transition of Liquid Crystal Droplets and their Predicted Defect Pattern

Recent experiments have demonstrated the ability for the nematic liquid crystal phase transitions to create nanoparticle structures. Control over the exact dimensions of the resulting structures is limited when these structures are produced in a bulk liquid crystal domain. To explore how to produce these structures with specificity, we dispersed quantum-dots into single isotropic 5CB droplets cooled into nematic phase to create a single capsule. We were able to show positive correlation between droplet and capsule size with a Pearson’s R value of 0.75. We then used Landau-De Gennes numerical modeling of liquid crystals and the phase transitions to predict the expected defect patterning in the surrounding liquid crystal due to anchoring conditions of the structures predicted by previous experimental results. We observed three different final configurations that were determined by the ratio of the system size to the anchoring extrapolation length.