10 research outputs found
Attractions between charged colloids at water interfaces
The effective potential between charged colloids trapped at water interfaces
is analyzed. It consists of a repulsive electrostatic and an attractive
capillary part which asymptotically both show dipole--like behavior. For
sufficiently large colloid charges, the capillary attraction dominates at large
separations.
The total effective potential exhibits a minimum at intermediate separations
if the Debye screening length of water and the colloid radius are of comparable
size.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, revised version (one paragraph added) accepted in
JPC
Effective capillary interaction of spherical particles at fluid interfaces
We present a detailed analysis of the effective force between two smooth
spherical colloids floating at a fluid interface due to deformations of the
interface. The results hold in general and are applicable independently of the
source of the deformation provided the capillary deformations are small so that
a superposition approximation for the deformations is valid. We conclude that
an effective long--ranged attraction is possible if the net force on the system
does not vanish. Otherwise, the interaction is short--ranged and cannot be
computed reliably based on the superposition approximation. As an application,
we consider the case of like--charged, smooth nanoparticles and
electrostatically induced capillary deformation. The resulting long--ranged
capillary attraction can be easily tuned by a relatively small external
electrostatic field, but it cannot explain recent experimental observations of
attraction if these experimental systems were indeed isolated.Comment: 23 page
Collective dynamics of colloids at fluid interfaces
The evolution of an initially prepared distribution of micron sized colloidal
particles, trapped at a fluid interface and under the action of their mutual
capillary attraction, is analyzed by using Brownian dynamics simulations. At a
separation \lambda\ given by the capillary length of typically 1 mm, the
distance dependence of this attraction exhibits a crossover from a logarithmic
decay, formally analogous to two-dimensional gravity, to an exponential decay.
We discuss in detail the adaption of a particle-mesh algorithm, as used in
cosmological simulations to study structure formation due to gravitational
collapse, to the present colloidal problem. These simulations confirm the
predictions, as far as available, of a mean-field theory developed previously
for this problem. The evolution is monitored by quantitative characteristics
which are particularly sensitive to the formation of highly inhomogeneous
structures. Upon increasing \lambda\ the dynamics show a smooth transition from
the spinodal decomposition expected for a simple fluid with short-ranged
attraction to the self-gravitational collapse scenario.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures, revised, matches version accepted for
publication in the European Physical Journal
Effective interactions of colloids on nematic films
The elastic and capillary interactions between a pair of colloidal particles
trapped on top of a nematic film are studied theoretically for large
separations . The elastic interaction is repulsive and of quadrupolar type,
varying as . For macroscopically thick films, the capillary interaction
is likewise repulsive and proportional to as a consequence of
mechanical isolation of the system comprised of the colloids and the interface.
A finite film thickness introduces a nonvanishing force on the system (exerted
by the substrate supporting the film) leading to logarithmically varying
capillary attractions. However, their strength turns out to be too small to be
of importance for the recently observed pattern formation of colloidal droplets
on nematic films.Comment: 13 pages, accepted by EPJ
Free energy of colloidal particles at the surface of sessile drops
The influence of finite system size on the free energy of a spherical
particle floating at the surface of a sessile droplet is studied both
analytically and numerically. In the special case that the contact angle at the
substrate equals a capillary analogue of the method of images is
applied in order to calculate small deformations of the droplet shape if an
external force is applied to the particle. The type of boundary conditions for
the droplet shape at the substrate determines the sign of the capillary
monopole associated with the image particle. Therefore, the free energy of the
particle, which is proportional to the interaction energy of the original
particle with its image, can be of either sign, too. The analytic solutions,
given by the Green's function of the capillary equation, are constructed such
that the condition of the forces acting on the droplet being balanced and of
the volume constraint are fulfilled. Besides the known phenomena of attraction
of a particle to a free contact line and repulsion from a pinned one, we
observe a local free energy minimum for the particle being located at the drop
apex or at an intermediate angle, respectively. This peculiarity can be traced
back to a non-monotonic behavior of the Green's function, which reflects the
interplay between the deformations of the droplet shape and the volume
constraint.Comment: 24 pages, 19 figure