Simulation of spherulite growth using a comprehensive approach to modeling the first-order isotropic/smectic-A mesophase transition

TL;DR

This paper presents a comprehensive simulation approach for the isotropic/smectic-A phase transition, combining experimental data, nonlinear optimization, and phase diagram computation to study nanoscale spherulite growth and defect dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces a novel integrated modeling framework that combines experimental data with nonlinear optimization for realistic phase transition simulation.

Findings

Successful phase diagram computation for 12CB

Detailed analysis of spherulite growth kinetics

Observation of defect dynamics in nanoscale spherulites

Abstract

A comprehensive modeling and simulation study of the first-order isotropic/smectic-A transition is presented and applied to phase diagram computation and two-dimensional spherulite growth. An approach based on nonlinear optimization, that incorporates experimental data (from 12CB, dodecyl-cyanobiphenyl), is used to determine physically realistic model parameters. These parameters are then used in conjunction with an optimized phase diagram computation method. Additionally, a time-dependent formulation is presented and applied to the study of two-dimensional smectic-A spherulite growth. These results show the growth kinematics and defect dynamics of nanoscale smectic-A spherulite growth in an isotropic phase with an initially radial layer configuration.