In this review, we focus on heterogeneous, thermotropic liquid crystal (LC) mixtures our group has studied with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Systems considered include: (1) binary LC mixtures, (2) colloidal inclusions in a mesogenic solvent, and (3) confined samples. An extension of the Gay-Berne model is provided to treat investigated. Our findings are contextualized calamitic discotic...

We present a method of visualizing topological defects arising in numerical simulations of liquid crystals. The method is based on scientific visualization techniques developed to visualize second-rank tensor fields, yielding information not only on the local structure of the field but also on the continuity of these structures. We show how these techniques can be used to first locate topologic...

The Landau–de Gennes theory provides a successful macroscopic description of nematics. Cornerstone of this theory is a phenomenological expression for the effective free energy as a function of the orientational order parameter. Here, we show how such a macroscopic Landau–de Gennes free energy can systematically be constructed for a microscopic model of liquid crystals formed by interacting mes...

We present a Monte Carlo simulation study of the phase behaviour and molecular organization of fullerene-based compounds, formed by a central fullerene with two mesogenic groups attached at its sides, that we describe with a generalized Gay-Berne model with flexible spacers. We consider two cases with identical substituents, either rod-like or disc-like, and investigate the thermotropic phases ...

We report molecular dynamics simulations of confined liquid crystals using the Gay-Berne-Kihara model. Upon isobaric cooling, the standard sequence of isotropic-nematic-smectic A phase transitions is found. Upon further cooling a reentrant nematic phase occurs. We investigate the temperature dependence of the self-diffusion coefficient of the fluid in the nematic, smectic and reentrant nematic ...

Molecular dynamics simulations of a model main-chain liquid-crystalline polymer (LCP), and a low molecular weight analogue, have been carried out using an efficient parallel algorithm. Amain-chain LCP is formed with the help of Gay-Berne mesogenic units connected to each other through flexible methylene spacers. We have studied the effect of varying the spacer length, and have examined the regi...

We have proposed an efficient parametrization method for a recent variant of the Gay Berne potential for dissimilar and biaxial particles [Phys. Rev. E 67, 041710 (2003)] and demonstrated it for a set of small organic molecules. Compared with the previously proposed coarse-grained models, the new potential exhibits a superior performance in close contact and large distant interactions. The repe...

The aggregation of liquid crystal nanodroplets from a homogeneous solution is an important but not well understood step in the preparation of various advanced photonic materials. Here, the authors performed molecular dynamics computer simulations of the formation of liquid crystalline nanodroplets, starting from an isotropic and uniform binary solution of spherical Lennard-Jones (solvent) and e...

Relative stability of uniaxial and biaxial nematic phases is analyzed in a model nematic liquid crystal composed of flat molecules of C2h symmetry with four mesogenic groups rigidly linked to the same center. The generalized effective quadrupole mean-field potential is proposed and its constants are evaluated numerically for the pair intermolecular potential based on Gay-Berne interaction betwe...