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electric crystal

19.11.2011

In a strong electric field, a liquid can crystallize. It is obvious that if you take a drop of a liquid, the molecules of which have a large dipole moment, and place it in an electric field, then a certain order will appear in it. For example, a drop of water turns from spherical into an ellipsoid, stretching along the field strength vector.

And what happens next, what if the field strength increases? This question was asked by mathematicians at the Georgia Tech University, led by Uzi Landman, director of the university's Center for Computational Materials Science. Instead of pouring liquids from test tube to test tube, they created a computer model.

For the calculation, not water was chosen, but formamide, the dipole moment of the molecules of which is more than two times larger, which means that the effect should be more pronounced. As the field strength increased, the drop behaved in a complex way. Up to 0,5 V/nm, it only slightly lengthened. Then a phase transition occurred inside the drop: its length very quickly increased, becoming 12 times greater than its width, and the molecules oriented along the field, although they retained the possibility of movement.

A further increase in the field, it would seem, does not promise any surprises: the drop again gradually lengthened, and the order in the arrangement of the molecules increased. But upon reaching a value of 1,5 V/nm, the drop solidified: the diffusion motion of molecules ceased, and the same order arose in their arrangement as in a crystal. When the field was removed, the crystal melted, but not immediately.

This work will form the basis for the creation of materials similar to magnetic fluids, the behavior of which can be controlled using an electric field.

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