Paper Number
PG24 

Session
Polyelectrolytes, Self-assembling Systems & Gels

Title
Orientation relaxation dynamics in cellulose nanocrystal dispersions in the chiral liquid crystalline phase

Presentation Date and Time
October 18, 2018 (Thursday) 9:30

Track / Room
Track 3 / Bellaire

Authors (Click on name to view author profile)

1. Pospisil, Martin J. (Texas A&M University, Chemical Engineering)
2. Saha, Partha (Auburn University, Chemical Engineering)
3. Abdulquddos, Suhaib (Texas A&M University, Chemical Engineering)
4. Noor, Matthew M. (Auburn University, Chemical Engineering)
5. Davis, Virginia A. (Auburn University, Chemical Engineering)
6. Green, Micah J. (Texas A&M University, Chemical Engineering)

Author and Affiliation Lines (in printed abstract book)
Martin J. Pospisil¹, Partha Saha², Suhaib Abdulquddos¹, Matthew M. Noor², Virginia A. Davis², and Micah J. Green^1
1Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX; ²Chemical Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL

Speaker / Presenter 
Pospisil, Martin J.

Text of Abstract
Self-assembly of dispersed cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) into helical liquid-crystalline microstructures were captured in post-shear relaxation experiments. To compare with the experiments, a time dependent Landau-de-Gennes model for CNC dynamics was simulated using a fully 3D finite element method to study the self-organization of the CNCs. Our study captured effects of gap confinement and chiral strength as the CNCs transitioned from their initially shear aligned state to their steady state cholesteric microstructure. Our simulation results indicate that texture uniformity decreases and defect density increases as either gap height or chiral strength is increased. We also observed the self-assembly of CNCs into dynamic banding patterns that precede steady state hierarchical structure. This work has immediate relevance in dispersion processing for thin film applications and gives new insight into self-assembly of dispersed anisotropic materials.