Related papers: Soliton-induced liquid crystal enabled electrophor…
Electrophoresis is a motion of charged dispersed particles relative to a fluid in a uniform electric field. The effect is widely used to separate macromolecules, to assemble colloidal structures, to transport particles in nano- and…
We describe electrophoresis of spherical dielectric particles in a uniformly aligned nematic medium with a negative dielectric anisotropy. A spherical particle that orients the liquid crystal (LC) perpendicularly to its surface moves under…
We study electrophoretic mobility of metal-dielectric Janus particles with dipolar director profile in two nematic liquid crystals (LCs) having same (positive) conductivity anisotropy and opposite dielectric anisotropy. The applied ac…
We create controllable active particles in the form of metal-dielectric Janus colloids which acquire motility through a nematic liquid crystal film by transducing the energy of an imposed perpendicular AC electric field. We achieve complete…
In a sharp contrast to the response of silica particles we show that the metal-dielectric Janus particles with boojum defects in a nematic liquid crystal are self-propelled under the action of an electric field applied perpendicular to the…
Electrically-controlled dynamics of fluids and particles at microscales is a fascinating area of research with applications ranging from microfluidics and sensing to sorting of biomolecules. The driving mechanisms are electric forces acting…
Colloidal particles in a liquid crystal (LC) behave very differently from their counterparts in isotropic fluids. Elastic nature of the orientational order and surface anchoring of the director cause long-range anisotropic interactions and…
We demonstrate several examples of driving and steering of colloids when dispersed in nematic liquid crystals. The driving mechanism is based on the principle of nonlinear electrophoresis which is mediated by the asymmetry in the structure…
The application of AC electric fields in aqueous suspensions of anisotropic particles leads to unbalanced liquid flows and nonlinear, induced-charge electrophoretic (ICEP) motion. We report experimental observations of the motion of "Janus"…
Electrophoresis is the motion of particles relative to a surrounding fluid driven by a uniform electric field. In conventional electrophoresis, the electrophoretic velocity grows linearly with the applied field. Nonlinear effects with a…
Electric field induced collective reorientation of nematic molecules placed between two flat parallel electrodes is of importance for both fundamental science and practical applications. This reorientation is either homogeneous over the…
Interfacial polar molecules feature a strongly anisotropic response to applied electric field, favoring dipole orientations parallel to the interface. In water, in particular, this effect combines with generic orientational preferences…
Solitons in nematic liquid crystals offer intriguing opportunities for transport and sensing in microfluidic systems. Little is known about the elementary conditions that are needed to create solitons in nematic materials. In this work,…
Nontrivial shape of colloidal particles create complex elastic distortions and topological defects in liquid crystals and play a key role in governing their electrophoretic propulsion through the medium. Here, we report experimental results…
Transport of fluids and particles at the microscale is an important theme both in fundamental and applied science. One of the most successful approaches is to use an electric field, which requires the system to carry or induce electric…
In contrast to the commonly used spherical Janus particles, here we used engineered Janus particles that are fabricated using photolithography technique for precise control over their geometry and coated regions. Specifically, we studied a…
We provide an experimental proof-of-concept for a robust, continuously rotating microstructure - consisting of two metallodielectric (gold-polystyrene)Janus particles rigidly attached to each other - which is driven in uniform ac fields by…
Self-propelling micromotors are emerging as a promising microscale and nanoscale tool for single-cell analysis. We have recently shown that the field gradients necessary to manipulate matter via dielectrophoresis can be induced at the…
Janus --or two-sided, charged membranes offer promise as ionic current rectifiers. In such systems, pores consisting of two regions of opposite charge can be used to generate a current from a gradient in salinity. The efficiency of…
We study the active dynamics of self-propelled asymmetrical colloidal particles (Janus particles) fueled by an AC electric field. Both the speed and the direction of the self-propulsion and the strength of attractive interaction between the…