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A systematic computational and scaling analysis of defect textures inpolygonal arrangement of cylindrical particles embedded in a cholesteric (Ch)liquid crystal matrix is performed using the Landau de Gennes model for chiralself assembly, with strong anchoring at the particles' surface. The defecttextures and LC phases observed are investigated as a function of chirality,elastic anisotropy, particle polygonal arrangement and particle size. Thepresence of a polygonal network made of N circular inclusions results in defecttextures of a net charge of -(N-2)/2 per unit polygonal cell. As the chiralityincreases, the LC matrix shows the following transition sequence: weaklytwisted cholesterics, 2D blue phases with non-singular/ singular defectlattices, cholesteric phases with only disclinations, and fingerprintcholesteric textures with disclinations and dislocations. For monomericmesogens at concentrations far from the I/Ch phase transition and lowchirality, for a given symmetry of the LC phase, the particle with weaker(stronger) confinement results in a phase with lower (higher) elastic energy,while at high chirality the elastic energy of a LC phase is proportional to thenumber of particles that form the polygonal network. Thus, hexagonal(triangular) particle arrangement results in low elastic energy at low (high)chirality. For semiflexible polymeric mesogens (high elastic anisotropy),defect textures with fewer disclinations/ dislocations arise but due to layerdistortions we find a higher elastic energy than monomeric mesogens. Thedefects arising in the simulations and the texture rules established are inagreement with experimental observations in cellulosic liquid crystal analoguessuch as plant cell wall and helical biological polymeric mesophases made ofDNA, PBLG and xanthan.

Defect Textures in Polygonal Arrangements of Cylindrical Inclusions in Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Matrices