Session W21: Liquid Crystals III
2:30 PM–5:30 PM, Thursday, March 16, 2006
Baltimore Convention Center Room: 318
Sponsoring Unit:
DFD
Chair: P. Collings, Swarthmore College
Abstract ID: BAPS.2006.MAR.W21.12
Abstract: W21.00012 : Entropy driven formation of a chiral liquid crystalline phase of helical rods
4:42 PM–4:54 PM
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Abstract 
Authors:
Zvonimir Dogic
(Rowland Institute at Harvard University)
Edward Barry
Zach Hensel
Michael Shribak
(Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole)
Rudolf Oldenbourg
(Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole)
We study the liquid crystalline phase behavior of a concentrated suspension of helical flagella isolated from Salmonella typhimurium. With increasing concentration, a suspension of helical flagella undergo an entropy driven first order phase transition to a liquid crystalline state having a novel chiral symmetry. Flagella are prepared with different polymorphic states, some of which have a pronounced helical character while others assume a rod-like shape. We show that the static phase behavior and dynamics of chiral helices are very different when compared to simpler achiral hard rods.
To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2006.MAR.W21.12