Issue 24, 2024

Percolation of nonequilibrium assemblies of colloidal particles in active chiral liquids

Abstract

The growing interest in the non-equilibrium assembly of colloidal particles in active liquids is driven by the motivation to create novel structures endowed with tunable properties unattainable within the confines of equilibrium systems. Here, we present an experimental investigation of the structural features of colloidal assemblies in active liquids of chiral E. coli. The colloidal particles form dynamic clusters due to the effective interaction mediated by active media. The activity and chirality of the swimmers strongly influence the dynamics and local ordering of colloidal particles, resulting in clusters with persistent rotation, whose structure differs significantly from those in equilibrium systems with attractive interactions, such as colloid–polymer mixtures. Our colloid–bacteria mixture displays several hallmark features of a percolation transition at a critical density, where the clusters span the system size. A closer examination of the critical exponents associated with cluster size distribution, the average cluster size, and the correlation length in the vicinity of the critical density shows deviations from the prediction of the standard continuum percolation model. Therefore, our experiments reveal a richer phase behavior of colloidal assemblies in active liquids.

Graphical abstract: Percolation of nonequilibrium assemblies of colloidal particles in active chiral liquids

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
11 Mar 2024
Accepted
12 May 2024
First published
16 May 2024

Soft Matter, 2024,20, 4699-4706

Percolation of nonequilibrium assemblies of colloidal particles in active chiral liquids

P. Kushwaha, S. Maity, A. Menon, R. Chelakkot and V. Chikkadi, Soft Matter, 2024, 20, 4699 DOI: 10.1039/D4SM00305E

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