Ostwald ripening of two-dimensional islands in thin, spherical bubbles of smectic liquid crystal in microgravity

ORAL

Abstract

We have recently made experimental observations of 2D coarsening in which thickness islands grow via coalescence and Ostwald ripening in molecularly thin, tethered smectic liquid crystal bubbles. We report here on the dynamics of island growth and collapse without coalescence in island emulsions at locations far from the meniscus around the bubble inflation needle. This Ostwald ripening of essentially 2D smectic A and C islands occurs as a result of the system’s tendency to reduce its energy through a decrease in the total length of the boundaries of the islands, a process that is generally dependent on the surface and line tension, the disjoining pressure of the island, and the excess air pressure inside the bubble. Smaller islands generally have a higher disjoining pressure than their larger neighbors, which results in permeative flow from the smaller to the larger islands. We will describe our observations of Ostwald ripening behavior in smectic bubbles and compare these with the dynamics of island coarsening dynamics in flat smectic films.

*Work supported by NASA Grant No. NNX-13AQ81G and by NSF MRSEC Grants No. DMR-0820579 and DMR-1420736 and German group by the DLR OASIS-Co 50WM1127, 50WM1430 and DFG Grant STA 425/40. .The Russian group acknowledges the support of TsNIIMASh.

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Presenters

  • Matthew Glaser

    • Physics, Univ of Colorado
    • Physics, Univ of Colorado - Boulder
    • Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder
    • Univ of Colorado - Boulder

Authors

  • Pavel Dolganov

    • Institute of Solid State Physics
    • Institute of Solid State Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences

  • Nikita Shuravin

    • Institute of Solid State Physics
    • Institute of Solid State Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences

  • Vladimir Dolganov

    • Institute of Solid State Physics
    • Institute of Solid State Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences

  • Cheol Park

    • Physics, Univ of Colorado
    • Department of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder

  • Eric Minor

    • Physics, Univ of Colorado
    • Department of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder

  • Joseph MacLennan

    • Physics, Univ of Colorado
    • Physics Department, Univ of Colorado Boulder
    • Physics, Univ of Colorado - Boulder
    • Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder
    • Department of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder

  • Matthew Glaser

    • Physics, Univ of Colorado
    • Physics, Univ of Colorado - Boulder
    • Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder
    • Univ of Colorado - Boulder

  • Noel Clark

    • Physics, Univ of Colorado
    • Physics, Univ of Colorado - Boulder
    • Department of Physics and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder
    • Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder

  • Christoph Klopp

    • Institute for Experimental Physics, Otto von Guericke University
    • Institute of Exp. Physics, Otto von Guericke University

  • Torsten Trittel

    • Institute for Experimental Physics, Otto von Guericke University
    • Institute of Exp. Physics, Otto von Guericke University
    • Institute of Experimental Physics, Otto von Guericke University

  • Ralf Stannarius

    • Institute for Experimental Physics, Otto von Guericke University
    • Institute of Exp. Physics, Otto von Guericke University
    • Institute of Experimental Physics, Otto von Guericke University