A Monte Carlo Simulation of Cyclic Polymeric Liquid Crystals

Abstract
A cyclic polymeric liquid crystal system is simulated using the Metropolis Monte Carlo method in the NVT ensemble. The polymeric system consists of mesogenic moieties attached to siloxane ring polymers and is simulated with two different mathematical models. In one model, the polymer molecules are represented as objects with disc-like symmetry, and columnar stacking of these molecules has been observed for simulations in two dimensions. In the other model the mesogenic moieties are represented individually by an anisotropic Lennard-Jones potential. The ring is represented solely as a constraint on the relative motions of the attached mesogens. If the ring-mesogen link is sufficiently flexible the mesogens are found to order at low temperatures.

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