Issue 10, 2022

Electric field induced macroscopic cellular phase of nanoparticles

Abstract

A suspension of nanoparticles with very low volume fraction is found to assemble into a macroscopic cellular phase that is composed of particle-rich walls and particle-free voids under the collective influence of AC and DC voltages. Systematic study of this phase transition shows that it was the result of electrophoretic assembly into a two-dimensional configuration followed by spinodal decomposition into particle-rich walls and particle-poor cells mediated principally by electrohydrodynamic flow. This mechanistic understanding reveals two characteristics needed for a cellular phase to form, namely (1) a system that is considered two dimensional and (2) short-range attractive, long-range repulsive interparticle interactions. In addition to determining the mechanism underpinning the formation of the cellular phase, this work presents a method to reversibly assemble microscale continuous structures out of nanoscale particles in a manner that may enable the creation of materials that impact diverse fields including energy storage and filtration.

Graphical abstract: Electric field induced macroscopic cellular phase of nanoparticles

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
19 Nov 2021
Accepted
20 Jan 2022
First published
20 Jan 2022

Soft Matter, 2022,18, 1991-1996

Electric field induced macroscopic cellular phase of nanoparticles

A. Rendos, W. Cao, M. Chern, M. Lauricella, S. Succi, J. G. Werner, A. M. Dennis and K. A. Brown, Soft Matter, 2022, 18, 1991 DOI: 10.1039/D1SM01650D

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