We study mesoscale self-assembly of colloidal particles in liquid crystals. The elasticity of distortions associated with the topological defect of the liquid crystal determines the interactions between the embedded microparticles. It gives rise to long-range anisotropic forces that have no analogues in regular colloidal systems dispersed in an isotropic fluid. In addition, there is a short-range structural repulsive force, and the delicate balance between them governs the positional and orientational ordering of the colloidal particles in liquid crystals. These forces are exploited to self-assemble the colloidal particles, which are further guided by laser tweezers to design advanced optical materials with complex architecture, which are likely to be useful in photonics, sensors and tunable materials.
Topological defects are important in determining properties of physical systems, and are known varyingly depending on the broken symmetry. These defects are crucial for determining the physical properties of the materials. We study the rheological properties of exotic liquid crystals in which the topological defects are inherent to the structures. We also study the microrheology of liquid crystals, polymers, gels and various other soft materials.
We study liquid crystal based optical micro-resonators for Whispering Gallery Mode (WGM) resonance and lasing, optics of self-assembled structures of droplets, colloidal particles.
Colloidal particles inducing topological defects in liquid crystals exhibit rotational and translational motion by transducing external energy. We study this new class of materials, termed as "topological active matter" in which topological defects and elasticity of liquid crystals play a crucial role in the dynamic structure as well as assembly and energy conversion.
The phase transitions, physical properties and the electro-optical responses of unconventional liquid crystals made of asymmetric molecules are drastically different from those of conventional liquid crystals made of rod-like molecules. We study phase transitions and physical properties of unconventional liquid crystals.
Patent: Method for controlling transport and for measuring electric dipole moment of metallo-dielectric particles in liquid crystals (Patent. No:420353 , Granted on 03/02/2023)
S. No. | Title | Authors | Journal Details | |
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107 | Nontrivial electrophoresis of silica nano and microrods in a nematic liquid crystal | M. Rasi, Archana S, R. Pujala and Surajit Dhara | Soft Matter 18, 6043 (2022) | |
106 | Defect-polymorphism controlled electrophoretic propulsion of anisometric microparticles in a nematic liquid crystal | Devika V S, D. K. Sahu,R. K. Pujala and Surajit Dhara | Phys. Rev. Applied 18, 014030 (2022) | |
105 | Electrophoresis of metal-dielectric Janus particles with dipolar director symmetry in nematic liquid crystals | Dinesh Kumar Sahu and Surajit Dhara | Soft Matter 18, 1819 (2022) | |
104 | Chemical and physical aspects of recent bent-shaped liquid crystals exhibiting chiral and achiral mesophases | S. Kaur, V. Punjani, N. Yadav, A. Baghla, S. K. Pal, A. Barthakur and Surajit Dhara | Liq. Cryst. 49, 1078 (2022) | |
103 | Observation of de Vries-like properties in hockey-stick shaped mesogens | S. Kaur, G. Mohiuddin,S. P. Gupta, A, Barthakur, Surajit Dhara and S. K. Pal | Chemical Science 13, 2249 (2022) |
S. No. | Title | Authors | Journal Details | |
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102 | Dynamics of a sheared twist bend nematic liquid crystal | M. Praveen Kumar, P. Kula and Surajit Dhara | Phys. Rev. Materials 5, 115605 (2021) (Editor's Suggestion) | |
101 | Topological phase transitions in two-dimensional bent-core liquid crystal models | B. Kamala Latha, Surajit Dhara and V. S. S Sastry | Phys. Rev. E 104, 064701 (2021) | |
100 | Electric field driven controllable motility of metal-dielectric Janus Boojum-particles in a thin film of nematic liquid crystal | Dinesh Kumar Sahu and Surajit Dhara | Phys. Fluids 33, 0187106 (2021) | |
99 | Interactions of charged microrods in chiral nematic liquid crystals | M. Rasi, R. Pujala, P. Sathayanarayana, and Surajit Dhara | Phys. Rev. E 104, 014706 (2021) | |
98 | Effect of phase transitions on liquid crystal colloids: A short review | K. P. Zuhail, M. Humar and Surajit Dhara | Liquid Crystal Reviews 8(1), 44 (2020) [Cover article] |
Thesis Title: Study of perfluorepolymer as alignment layer for nematic liquid crystals
Thesis Title: Investigation on the physical properties of unconventional nematic liquid crystals
Thesis Title: Rheological studies on nematic and smectic-A thermotropic liquid crystals
Thesis Title: Effect of smectic and columnar short-range orders on the physical properties of nematic liquid crystals
Thesis Title: Nano and Micro particles in liquid crystals: Studies on the orientation and electrokinetics
Thesis Title: Rheological Studies on Liquid Crystals with Structural and Induced Topological Defects
Thesis Title: Topological defects transformation and structural transition of two dimensional colloidal crystals across nematic to smectic-A phase transition
Thesis Title: Whispering gallery mode optical resonance and lasing in liquid crystal microdroplets
Thesis Title: Interaction, directed assembly and electrophoretic mobility of silica micro and nanorods in nematic liquid crystals
Thesis Title: Nonlinear electrophoresis of metal-dielectric Janus particles in
nematic liquid crystals
Thesis Title: Rheology of twist-bend and ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals
V S Devika
Abinash Barthakur
Archana S
Asish P V
Saikat Das
Anaswara Das
Bidisha Bag
Dr. Surajit Dhara
Professor
School of Physics
University of Hyderabad
Prof. C. R. Rao road
Hyderabad-500 046
(040) 2313 4331