Anomalous Brownian motion of colloidal particle in a nematic environment: effect of the director fluctuations

TL;DR

This study investigates the short-time anomalous diffusion of colloidal particles in nematic liquid crystals, revealing subdiffusive and superdiffusive behaviors linked to director fluctuations, using video microscopy and single particle tracking.

Contribution

It provides new experimental insights into the short-time dynamics of colloids in nematic LCs, highlighting the influence of director fluctuations on anomalous diffusion behaviors.

Findings

At long times, colloids exhibit anisotropic Brownian motion with MSD linear in time.

Short-time dynamics show subdiffusion and superdiffusion due to director fluctuations.

Results connect colloidal motion to nematic director relaxation dynamics.

Abstract

As recently reported [Turiv T. et al., Science, 2013, Vol. 342, 1351], fluctuations in the orientation of the liquid crystal (LC) director can transfer momentum from the LC to a colloid, such that the diffusion of the colloid becomes anomalous on a short time scale. Using video microscopy and single particle tracking, we investigate random thermal motion of colloidal particles in a nematic liquid crystal for the time scales shorter than the expected time of director fluctuations. At long times, compared to the characteristic time of the nematic director relaxation we observe typical anisotropic Brownian motion with the mean square displacement (MSD) linear in time $\tau$ and inversly proportional to the effective viscosity of the nematic medium. At shorter times, however, the dynamics is markedly nonlinear with MSD growing more slowly (subdiffusion) or faster (superdiffusion) than $\tau$. These results are discussed in the context of coupling of colloidal particle's dynamics to the director fluctuation dynamics.