Lattice Monte Carlo study of orientational order in a confined system of biaxial particles: Effect of an external electric field

Casquilho, J. P.; Figueirinhas, J. L.

doi:10.1103/physreve.103.032701

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…The effect of external fields on suspensions of spherical particles has been extensively investigated by experiments [8][9][10][11][12] and simulations [13][14][15][16][17][18] . Thanks to recent advances in chemical 19 , physical 20 and biosynthetic 21 techniques for the synthesis of anisotropic particles [22][23][24][25][26][27][28] , which were key to discover new a) Electronic mail: a.patti@ugr.es phases either driven by simple excluded-volume effects [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39] or induced by external stimuli [40][41][42][43][44] , electrorheology has been extended to more exotic colloidal suspensions [45][46][47] . Polarisation has then been employed to explore the fabrication of an intriguing family of novel materials, termed colloidal polymers, where a field-induced alignment of particles in polymerlike chains of tunable flexibility is subsequently made permanent even when the field is switched off 48,49 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kinetics of isotropic to string-like phase switching in electrorheological fluids of nanocubes

Tonti

Daza

Patti

2022

The Journal of Chemical Physics

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Applying an electric field to polarisable colloidal particles, whose permittivity differs from that of the dispersing medium, generates induced dipoles that promote the formation of string-like clusters and ultimately alter the fluid mechanical and rheological properties. Complex systems of this kind, whose electric-field-induced rheology can be manipulated between that of viscous and elastic materials, are referred to as electrorheological fluids. By dynamic Monte Carlo simulations, we investigate the dynamics of self-assembly of dielectric nanocubes upon application of an electric field. Switching the field on induces in-particle dipoles and, at sufficiently large field intensity, leads to string-like clusters of variable length across a spectrum of volume fractions. The kinetics of switching from the isotropic to the string-like state suggests the existence of two mechanisms, the first related to the nucleation of chains and the second to the competition between further merging and separation. We characterise the transient unsteady state by following the chain length distribution and analysing the probability of transition of nanocubes from one chain to another over time. Additionally, we employ passive microrheology to gain an insight into the effect of the electric field on the viscoelastic response of our model fluid. Not only do we observe that it becomes more viscoelastic in the presence of the field, but also that its viscoelasticity assumes an anisotropic signature, with both viscous and elastic moduli in planes perpendicular to the external field being larger than those along it.

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