2017/11/03 by Hayley R. O. Sohn, Paul J. Ackerman, Timothy J. Boyle +3 · 1 citation
Computer Science · Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Asymmetry #Characterization and Applications of Magnetic Nanoparticles #Classical mechanics #Condensed matter physics #Electric field #Liquid crystal #Mechanics #Micro and Nano Robotics #Nonlinear Dynamics and Pattern Formation #Optics #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Streamlines, streaklines, and pathlines #Topological defect #Topology (electrical circuits) #cond-mat.soft
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreve.97.052701
published as Phys. Rev. E 97, 052701 (2018) · 14 figures
arxiv created 2017/11/03 · openalex publication_date 2018/05/02 · arxiv updated 2018/05/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
Active colloids and liquid crystals are capable of locally converting the macroscopically supplied energy into directional motion and promise a host of new applications, ranging from drug delivery to cargo transport at the mesoscale. Here we uncover how topological solitons in liquid crystals can locally transform electric energy to translational motion and allow for the transport of cargo along directions dependent on frequency of the applied electric field. By combining polarized optical video microscopy and numerical modeling that reproduces both the equilibrium structures of solitons and their temporal evolution in applied fields, we uncover the physical underpinnings behind this reconfigurable motion and study how it depends on the structure and topology of solitons. We show that, unexpectedly, the directional motion of solitons with and without the cargo arises mainly from the asymmetry in rotational dynamics of molecular ordering in liquid crystal rather than from the asymmetry of fluid flows, as in conventional active soft matter systems.