Active particles knead three-dimensional gels into open crumbs

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Pedersen, Martin Cramer, Mukherjee, Sourav, Doostmohammadi, Amin, Mondal, Chandana, Thijssen, Kristian
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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_version_ 1866909166829830144
author Pedersen, Martin Cramer
Mukherjee, Sourav
Doostmohammadi, Amin
Mondal, Chandana
Thijssen, Kristian
author_facet Pedersen, Martin Cramer
Mukherjee, Sourav
Doostmohammadi, Amin
Mondal, Chandana
Thijssen, Kristian
contents Colloidal gels are prime examples of functional materials exhibiting disordered, amorphous, yet meta-stable forms. They maintain stability through short-range attractive forces and their material properties are tunable by external forces. Combining persistent homology analyses and simulations of three-dimensional colloidal gels doped with active particles, we reveal novel dynamically evolving structures of colloidal gels. Specifically, we show that the local injection of energy by active dopants can lead to highly porous, yet compact gel structures that can significantly affect the transport of active particles within the modified colloidal gel. We further show the substantially distinct structural behaviour between active doping of 2D and 3D systems by revealing how passive interfaces play a topologically different role in interacting with active particles in two and three dimensions. The results open the door to an unexplored prospect of forming a wide variety of compact but highly heterogeneous and percolated porous media through active doping of 3D passive matter, with diverse implications in designing new functional materials to active ground remediation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2404_07767
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Active particles knead three-dimensional gels into open crumbs
Pedersen, Martin Cramer
Mukherjee, Sourav
Doostmohammadi, Amin
Mondal, Chandana
Thijssen, Kristian
Soft Condensed Matter
Colloidal gels are prime examples of functional materials exhibiting disordered, amorphous, yet meta-stable forms. They maintain stability through short-range attractive forces and their material properties are tunable by external forces. Combining persistent homology analyses and simulations of three-dimensional colloidal gels doped with active particles, we reveal novel dynamically evolving structures of colloidal gels. Specifically, we show that the local injection of energy by active dopants can lead to highly porous, yet compact gel structures that can significantly affect the transport of active particles within the modified colloidal gel. We further show the substantially distinct structural behaviour between active doping of 2D and 3D systems by revealing how passive interfaces play a topologically different role in interacting with active particles in two and three dimensions. The results open the door to an unexplored prospect of forming a wide variety of compact but highly heterogeneous and percolated porous media through active doping of 3D passive matter, with diverse implications in designing new functional materials to active ground remediation.
title Active particles knead three-dimensional gels into open crumbs
topic Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.07767