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Simulation of chiral liquid crystal self-assembly: analogies with the structural formation of biological fibrous composites

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2011

Gino De Luca  and
Alejandro D. Rey
Gino De Luca
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, 3610 University Street, Montreal, Quebec Canada H3A 2B2
Alejandro D. Rey
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, 3610 University Street, Montreal, Quebec Canada H3A 2B2
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Abstract

The wide majority of biological fibrous composites exhibit twisted plywood architectures (planar or cylindrical) for mechanical reasons [1–5]. These supramolecular organizations originate from the passage of the extracellular matrix (surrounding the chiral fibrous molecules) trough a lyotropic cholesteric liquid crystalline mesophase during the structure formation process [1–5]. In this work, we used the well-established Landau-de Gennes theory of liquid crystals in order to develop a fundamental understanding of the supramolecular self-assembly process leading to the planar monodomain (defect-free) twisted plywood architecture [6]. Simulations illustrate the importance of constraining surface in the formation of defect-free (mechanically effective) composites. These results provide a better understanding of tissue morphogenesis which is highly desirable for the development of new bio-inspired synthetic composites.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 735: Symposium C – Bioinspired Nanoscale Hybrid Systems , 2002 , C7.4
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2003

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References

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