Pore dimensionality effects on the dynamics of a nanoconfined liquid-crystal

We present results from molecular dynamics simulations of a Gay-Berne mesogenic system GB(4.4, 20, 1, 1) under spatial confinement in three pores of different dimensionality. The dynamics of the confined phases is characterized by the molecular rotation and the mass center translation as a function of temperature. Non-trivial opposite dependences of the rotational and translational dynamics on the pore dimensionality are observed. Moreover, a direct relation between surface-induced static order and the propagation of dynamical heterogeneities in the nanophase is observed. This result is discussed in the light of recent experiments on the non-Debye character of short-range ordered nanoconfined liquid-crystals.