Hydrodynamic simulations of self-phoretic microswimmers

Abstract

A mesoscopic hydrodynamic model to simulate synthetic self-propelled Janus particles which is thermophoretically or diffusiophoretically driven is here developed. We first propose a model for a passive colloidal sphere which reproduces the correct rotational dynamics together with strong phoretic effect. This colloid solution model employs a multiparticle collision dynamics description of the solvent, and combines stick boundary conditions with colloid–solvent potential interactions. Asymmetric and specific colloidal surface is introduced to produce the properties of self-phoretic Janus particles. A comparative study of Janus and microdimer phoretic swimmers is performed in terms of their swimming velocities and induced flow behavior. Self-phoretic microdimers display long range hydrodynamic interactions with a decay of 1/r², which is similar to the decay of gradient fields generated by self-phoretic particle, and can be characterized as pullers or pushers. In contrast, Janus particles are characterized by short range hydrodynamic interactions with a decay of 1/r³ and behave as neutral swimmers.