(623c) Brownian Dynamics Simulations of Spherical Colloids in a Suspension of Ellipsoids Interacting Via the Gay-Berne Potential

Colloidal particles in a solvent composed of elongated molecules at a liquid crystalline phase induce topological defects that strongly depend on their interaction energy. Recent experiments and molecular dynamics simulations have shown that these defects affect the mobility of colloidal particles relative to the order of the liquid crystal, as well as the interaction forces between particles and bulk properties of the suspension.  For the development of this material in useful technologies, it is important to further understand at a single particle level the organization of liquid crystal molecules near the surface of a colloid and to relate this microstructure with relevant physical properties of the suspension. In this study it is shown via Brownian dynamics simulations that microstructural features of colloids in liquid crystals found at the molecular level are also present if the molecules are treated as ellipsoidal colloids interacting via the Gay-Berne potential. This is validated by calculating the long-time self-diffusivity of a single spherical colloid immersed in this Gay-Berne colloidal suspension at different particle concentrations and sphere-ellipsoid interactions (anchorings). The results are similar to previous studies on the diffusion of nanoparticles in liquid crystals.