This research investigates the position control of spherical charged particles suspended in a directly simulated homogeneous isotropic turbulence, which has the potential to improve the efficiency of the electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) in removing gaseous pollutants. To do this, the electric field used in ESPs is controlled by the sliding mode control method to steer the particles toward their desired positions. The particles are charged using the field charging method, which leads to electrical interactions between them. Employing the linked-list method reduces the computational cost related to these interaction forces. The dynamics of particles is simulated using the Maxey–Riley equation including the control force. Coupling the direct numerical simulation solver with the proposed control method and the linked-list scheme, along with solving the particle dynamics, complicates the problem from a control theory point of view. The robustness of the proposed model-free control method leads to overcoming disturbances and uncertainties in the simulation due to turbulence and repulsive electric forces. Hence, steering a large number of charged particles to places with more pollution concentration or increasing the duration of exposure of the particles to gaseous pollutants becomes possible. The findings of the present research are pertinent to improving the performance of air purification equipment.