# Connectivity, Not Density, Dictates Percolation in Nematic Liquid Crystals of Slender Nanoparticles

## TL;DR

This study reveals that in nematic liquid crystals of slender nanoparticles, percolation is primarily governed by connectivity distance rather than density, due to the coupling between order and contact number, impacting nanocomposite design.

## Contribution

It demonstrates that in nematic phases, percolation depends mainly on connectivity criteria, contrasting with isotropic dispersions, and highlights the anisotropic nature of clusters for nanocomposite applications.

## Key findings

- Percolation depends weakly on density in nematics.
- Clusters are elongated, indicating anisotropic transport.
- Connectivity distance, not density, controls percolation.

## Abstract

We show by means of continuum theory and simulations that geometric percolation in uniaxial nematics of hard slender particles is fundamentally different from that in isotropic dispersions. In the nematic, percolation depends only very weakly on the density and is, in essence, determined by a distance criterion that defines connectivity. This unexpected finding has its roots in the non-trivial coupling between the density and the degree of orientational order that dictate the mean number of particle contacts. Clusters in the nematic are much longer than wide, suggesting the use of nematics for nanocomposites with strongly anisotropic transport properties.