Nonequilibrium Phase Diagram of Sticky Nanotube Suspensions

We report a universal phase diagram describing the evolution from solidlike networks to flowing nematics for "sticky" nanotube suspensions under an applied shear stress. Although the nanotubes are strongly non-Brownian, we find features characteristic of first-order phase transitions, including a discontinuity in the nematic order parameter at the isotropic-(para)nematic phase boundary. Using simple physical arguments, we account for the shape of the coexistence curves, as well as the dependence of the order parameter on concentration and stress.