Simulation of a two-dimensional model for colloids in a uniaxial electric field

Electric field induced macroscopic cellular phase of nanoparticles

A suspension of nanoparticles with very low volume fraction is found to assemble into a macroscopic cellular phase that is composed of particle-rich walls and particle-free voids under the collective influence of AC and DC voltages. Systematic study of this phase transition shows that it was the result of electrophoretic assembly into a two-dimensional configuration followed by spinodal decomposition into particle-rich walls and particle-poor cells mediated principally by electrohydrodynamic flow. This mechanistic understanding reveals two characteristics needed for a cellular phase to form, namely (1) a system that is considered two dimensional and (2) short-range attractive, long-range repulsive interparticle interactions. In addition to determining the mechanism underpinning the formation of the cellular phase, this work presents a method to reversibly assemble microscale continuous structures out of nanoscale particles in a manner that may enable the creation of materials that impact diverse fields including energy storage and filtration.

Contact-Free Templating of 3-D Colloidal Structures Using Spatially Nonuniform AC Electric Fields

The formation of ordered and regularly shaped structures of colloidal particles with the aid of spatially nonuniform electric fields is a modern research area of great interest. This work illustrates how alternating current (AC) electrokinetic effects (dielectrophoresis, electroosmosis) can serve as contact-free templates, inside which colloidal microspheres can assemble into a variety of shapes and sizes. We show how three-dimensional colloidal structures of square, circular, and diamond shape of many tens of micrometers in size can be reproducibly formed with a single set of quadrupolar microelectrodes. Numerical simulations performed help to explain the role of AC electroosmosis and AC dielectrophoresis on the shaping of these structures as a function of applied voltage and frequency. We also demonstrate how the templating repertoire is further enhanced with the simultaneous application of a second, individually controlled AC electric field, which enables a variety of asymmetric colloidal structures to be produced using the same set of quadrupolar microelectrodes. As the preservation of shape and size of such electric-field templated structures after medium evaporation still remains a big challenge, here we also report on a novel method that permits the stabilization and isolation of these particle assemblies through medium gelation and subsequent hydrogel removal with a UV/ozone treatment.

Clusters in sedimentation equilibrium for an experimental hard-sphere-plus-dipolar Brownian colloidal system

In this work, we use structure and dynamics in sedimentation equilibrium, in the presence of gravity, to examine, via confocal microscopy, a Brownian colloidal system in the presence of an external electric field. The zero field equation of state (EOS) is hard sphere without any re-scaling of particle size, and the hydrodynamic corrections to the long-time self-diffusion coefficient are quantitatively consistent with the expected value for hard spheres. Care is taken to ensure that both the dimensionless gravitational energy, which is equivalent to a Peclet number Peg, and dipolar strength Λ are of order unity. In the presence of an external electric field, anisotropic chain-chain clusters form; this cluster formation manifests itself with the appearance of a plateau in the diffusion coefficient when the dimensionless dipolar strength Λ ~ 1. The structure and dynamics of this chain-chain cluster state is examined for a monodisperse system for two particle sizes.

Field-induced assembly of colloidal ellipsoids into well-defined microtubules

Current theoretical attempts to understand the reversible formation of stable microtubules and virus shells are generally based on shape-specific building blocks or monomers, where the local curvature of the resulting structure is explicitly built-in via the monomer geometry. Here we demonstrate that even simple ellipsoidal colloids can reversibly self-assemble into regular tubular structures when subjected to an alternating electric field. Supported by model calculations, we discuss the combined effects of anisotropic shape and field-induced dipolar interactions on the reversible formation of self-assembled structures. Our observations show that the formation of tubular structures through self-assembly requires much less geometrical and interaction specificity than previously thought, and advance our current understanding of the minimal requirements for self-assembly into regular virus-like structures.