Modelling Microstructiure in Materials that Contain Anisotropic Particles

The spontaneous alignment of molecules in liquid crystalline solutions is characteristic of other materials that contain rodlike particles. We are developing a model to predict the evolution of microstructure in these systems. Its starting point is Flory's thermodynamic analysis of liquid crystalline phase separation. Our preferred method dispenses with the traditional lattice model in favor of a Monte Carlo simulation to calculate entropy. Some advantages and consequences of our approach are explored in this paper