Bistable colloidal orientation near a charged surface

TL;DR

This study investigates how uncharged anisotropic colloids near a charged surface can switch orientations under static and time-varying electric fields, revealing bistable states driven by electrostatic and gravitational energies.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of orientation switching in static fields and maps the phase diagram of orientation transitions in AC fields for colloids near a charged surface.

Findings

Reversible orientation switching between states in static fields.

Phase diagram of orientation transitions in AC fields.

Bistability explained by electrostatic and gravitational energy balance.

Abstract

Anisotropic particles oriented in a specific direction can act as artificial atoms and molecules, and their controlled assembly can result in a wide variety of ordered structures. Towards this, we demonstrate the orientation transitions of uncharged peanut-shaped polystyrene colloids, suspended in a non-ionic aprotic polar solvent, near a flat surface whose potential is static or time-varying. The charged surface is coated with an insulating dielectric layer to suppress electric currents. The transition between several orientation states such as random, normal or parallel orientation with respect to the surface, is examined for two different colloid sizes at low-frequency ($\sim 10-350$ kHz) or static fields, and at small electric potentials. In time-varying (AC) field, a detailed phase diagram in the potential-frequency plane indicating the transition between particles parallel or normal to the surface is reported. We next present the first study of orientation switching in static (DC) fields, where no electro-osmotic or other flow is present. A reversible change between the two colloidal states is explained by a theory showing that the sum of electrostatic and gravitational energies of the colloid is bistable. The number of colloids in each of the two states depends on the external potential, particle and solvent permittivities, particle aspect ratio, and distance from the electrode.