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Shaping boundaries to control and transport topological defects in colloidal nematic liquid crystals

Gerardo Campos-Villalobos1,2,*, André F. V. Matias1,*, Ethan I. L. Jull1, Lisa Tran1,†, and Marjolein Dijkstra1,‡

  • 1Soft Condensed Matter & Biophysics, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, Princetonplein 1, 3584 CC Utrecht, The Netherlands
  • 2CNR-ISC and Department of Physics, Sapienza University of Rome, p.le A. Moro 2, 00185 Roma, Italy

  • *These authors contributed equally to this work.
  • †Contact author: l.tran@uu.nl
  • ‡Contact author: m.dijkstra@uu.nl
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 023217 – Published 28 May, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/wbbt-w9nm

Abstract

Anisotropic rodlike particles form liquid crystalline phases with varying degrees of orientational and translational order. When confined geometrically, these phases can give rise to topological defects, which can be selected and controlled by tuning how the rods align near boundaries, known as anchoring. While anchoring in molecular liquid crystals can be controlled through surface functionalization, this approach is not easily applicable to microscale colloidal systems, which have so far been limited to planar anchoring. Here, using particle-based simulations, Landau–de Gennes theory, and experiments on colloidal rods, we demonstrate that topographical patterning of the boundary can effectively control the anchoring type and, in turn, the defect state in two-dimensional confined nematics. Building on this, we numerically predict that dynamically shape shifting the boundaries can transform and transport topological defects.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 023217– Published 28 May, 2026
  • Received 23 June 2025
  • Revised 16 October 2025
  • Accepted 25 April 2026
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