Percolation of nonequilibrium assemblies of colloidal particles in active chiral liquids

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Kushwaha, Pragya, Maity, Sayan, Menon, Anjaly S., Chelakkot, Raghunath, Chikkadi, Vijayakumar
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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_version_ 1866910353919574016
author Kushwaha, Pragya
Maity, Sayan
Menon, Anjaly S.
Chelakkot, Raghunath
Chikkadi, Vijayakumar
author_facet Kushwaha, Pragya
Maity, Sayan
Menon, Anjaly S.
Chelakkot, Raghunath
Chikkadi, Vijayakumar
contents 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. The colloid-bacteria mixture displays several hallmark features of a percolation transition at a critical density, where the clusters span the system size. However, a closer examination of the critical exponents associated with cluster size distribution, average cluster size, and correlation length in the vicinity of the critical density suggest strong deviations from the prediction of the standard continuum percolation model. Therefore, our experiments reveal a richer phase behavior of colloidal assemblies in active liquids.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2403_02423
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Percolation of nonequilibrium assemblies of colloidal particles in active chiral liquids
Kushwaha, Pragya
Maity, Sayan
Menon, Anjaly S.
Chelakkot, Raghunath
Chikkadi, Vijayakumar
Soft Condensed Matter
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. The colloid-bacteria mixture displays several hallmark features of a percolation transition at a critical density, where the clusters span the system size. However, a closer examination of the critical exponents associated with cluster size distribution, average cluster size, and correlation length in the vicinity of the critical density suggest strong deviations from the prediction of the standard continuum percolation model. Therefore, our experiments reveal a richer phase behavior of colloidal assemblies in active liquids.
title Percolation of nonequilibrium assemblies of colloidal particles in active chiral liquids
topic Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.02423