Thermal expansion within a chain of magnetic colloidal particles

TL;DR

This study investigates how magnetic colloidal chains expand with temperature, using microscopy and tunable interactions, modeled as a one-dimensional anharmonic crystal to understand their thermal behavior.

Contribution

It introduces a simple one-dimensional anharmonic crystal model to analyze thermal expansion in magnetic colloidal chains with tunable interactions.

Findings

Thermal expansion depends on ionic strength and magnetic field.

Positional data of particles enables detailed analysis.

Model captures key features of chain expansion.

Abstract

We study the thermal expansion of chains formed by self-assembly of magnetic colloidal particles in a magnetic field. Using video-microscopy, complete positional data of all the particles of the chains is obtained. By changing the ionic strength of the solution and the applied magnetic field, the interaction potential can be tuned. We analyze the thermal expansion of the chain using a simple model of a one dimensional anharmonic crystal of finite size.