Hydrodynamics in bridging and aggregation of two colloidal particles in a near-critical binary mixture

Sign change in the net force in sphere-plate and sphere-sphere systems immersed in nonpolar critical fluid due to the interplay between the critical Casimir and dispersion van der Waals forces

We study systems in which both long-ranged van der Waals and critical Casimir interactions are present. The latter arise as an effective force between bodies when immersed in a near-critical medium, say a nonpolar one-component fluid or a binary liquid mixture. They are due to the fact that the presence of the bodies modifies the order parameter profile of the medium between them as well as the spectrum of its allowed fluctuations. We study the interplay between these forces, as well as the total force (TF) between a spherical colloid particle and a thick planar slab and between two spherical colloid particles. We do that using general scaling arguments and mean-field-type calculations utilizing the Derjaguin and the surface integration approaches. They both are based on data of the forces between two parallel slabs separated at a distance L from each other, confining the fluctuating fluid medium characterized by its temperature T and chemical potential μ. The surfaces of the colloid particles and the slab are coated by thin layers exerting strong preference to the liquid phase of the fluid, or one of the components of the mixture, modeled by strong adsorbing local surface potentials, ensuring the so-called (+,+) boundary conditions. On the other hand, the core region of the slab and the particles influence the fluid by long-ranged competing dispersion potentials. We demonstrate that for a suitable set of colloids-fluid, slab-fluid, and fluid-fluid coupling parameters, the competition between the effects due to the coatings and the core regions of the objects involved result, when one changes T, μ, or L, in sign change of the Casimir force (CF) and the TF acting between the colloid and the slab, as well as between the colloids. This can be used for governing the behavior of objects, say colloidal particles, at small distances, say in colloid suspensions for preventing flocculation. It can also provide a strategy for solving problems with handling, feeding, trapping, and fixing of microparts in nanotechnology. Data for specific substances in support of the experimental feasibility of the theoretically predicted behavior of the CF and TF have been also presented.

Colloidal suspensions in one-phase mixed solvents under shear flow

We numerically studied the behaviour of colloidal suspensions in one-phase binary liquid mixtures under shear flows. Far from the phase-separation point, the colloidal particles are well dispersed and the suspension exhibits a Newtonian viscosity. When the mixture is close to the coexistence curve, the colloidal particles aggregate by attractive interactions due to the concentration heterogeneity caused by surface wetting, and the viscosity of the suspension increases. Near the phase-separation point, the viscosity increases when the fraction of species favoured by the surface of a colloid particle is small. The mixture also exhibits shear thinning behaviour, since the aggregated structure is rearranged into small clusters due to the shear flow. Our simulations indicate that the concentration profile around each particle is not significantly disturbed by the shear flow at the onset of the structural rearrangements. The effective interaction is independent of the shear flow and remains isotropic.

Critical adsorption profiles around a sphere and a cylinder in a fluid at criticality: Local functional theory

We study universal critical adsorption on a solid sphere and a solid cylinder in a fluid at bulk criticality, where preferential adsorption occurs. We use a local functional theory proposed by Fisher et al. [M. E. Fisher and P. G. de Gennes, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris Ser. B 287, 207 (1978); M. E. Fisher and H. Au-Yang, Physica A 101, 255 (1980)PHYADX0378-437110.1016/0378-4371(80)90112-0]. We calculate the mean order parameter profile ψ(r), where r is the distance from the sphere center and the cylinder axis, respectively. The resultant differential equation for ψ(r) is solved exactly around a sphere and numerically around a cylinder. A strong adsorption regime is realized except for very small surface field h_{1}, where the surface order parameter ψ(a) is determined by h_{1} and is independent of the radius a. If r considerably exceeds a, ψ(r) decays as r^{-(1+η)} for a sphere and r^{-(1+η)/2} for a cylinder in three dimensions, where η is the critical exponent in the order parameter correlation at bulk criticality.

Density functional theory of gas-liquid phase separation in dilute binary mixtures

We examine statics and dynamics of phase-separated states of dilute binary mixtures using density functional theory. In our systems, the difference of the solvation chemical potential between liquid and gas [Formula: see text] (the Gibbs energy of transfer) is considerably larger than the thermal energy [Formula: see text] for each solute particle and the attractive interaction among the solute particles is weaker than that among the solvent particles. In these conditions, the saturated vapor pressure increases by [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] is the solute density added in liquid. For [Formula: see text], phase separation is induced at low solute densities in liquid and the new phase remains in gaseous states, even when the liquid pressure is outside the coexistence curve of the solvent. This explains the widely observed formation of stable nanobubbles in ambient water with a dissolved gas. We calculate the density and stress profiles across planar and spherical interfaces, where the surface tension decreases with increasing interfacial solute adsorption. We realize stable solute-rich bubbles with radius about 30 nm, which minimize the free energy functional. We then study dynamics around such a bubble after a decompression of the surrounding liquid, where the bubble undergoes a damped oscillation. In addition, we present some exact and approximate expressions for the surface tension and the interfacial stress tensor.

Relaxation rate of the shape fluctuation of a fluid membrane immersed in a near-critical binary fluid mixture

We consider the two-time correlation of the shape fluctuation of a fluid membrane immersed in a near-critical binary fluid mixture. Usually one component of the mixture is preferably attracted by the membrane. Adsorption layers, where the preferred component is more concentrated, are generated on both sides of the membrane significantly because of the near-criticality. The resultant gradient of the local mass-density difference between the two components generates additional stress, including the osmotic pressure, to influence the membrane motion. Assuming the mixture to be in the homogeneous phase near, but not too close to, the demixing critical point, we use the Gaussian free-energy functional to calculate the relaxation rate for a wavelength much longer than the correlation length of the mixture. Our calculation supposes weak preferential attraction and weak dependence of the mixture viscosity on the mass-density difference, and is performed within the linear approximation with respect to the undulation amplitude. It is shown for small wave number that the additional stress makes the relaxation more rapid independently of whether the preferred component is more viscous or not and that the relaxation rate can be regarded as proportional to the wave number even for a tensionless membrane. This linear dependence comes from the balance between the frictional force due to the mixture viscosity and the restoring force of the adsorption layer.

Self-Propulsion Mechanism of Active Janus Particles in Near-Critical Binary Mixtures

Gold-capped Janus particles immersed in a near-critical binary mixture can be propelled using illumination. We employ a nonisothermal diffuse interface approach to investigate the self-propulsion mechanism of a single colloid. We attribute the motion to body forces at the edges of a micronsized droplet that nucleates around the particle. Thus, the often-used concept of a surface velocity cannot account for the self-propulsion. The particle's swimming velocity is related to the droplet shape and size, which is determined by a so-called critical isotherm. Two distinct swimming regimes exist, depending on whether the droplet partially or completely covers the particle. Interestingly, the dependence of the swimming velocity on temperature is nonmonotonic in both regimes.