Autophoresis of a Janus particle near a planar wall: a lubrication limit

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ruangkriengsin, Tachin, Turk, Günther, Stone, Howard A.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866914361347407872
author Ruangkriengsin, Tachin
Turk, Günther
Stone, Howard A.
author_facet Ruangkriengsin, Tachin
Turk, Günther
Stone, Howard A.
contents We study the self-diffusiophoresis of a spherical chemically active particle near a planar, impermeable wall, with a focus on the influence of particle orientation on propulsion. We analyze a Janus particle with asymmetric surface chemical activity, consisting of a small inert region within a catalytically active cap. While numerical simulations have been used to study such particles, they encounter difficulties resolving the flow and transport in the extreme near-wall regime due to geometric confinement and steep solute concentration gradients. We address this limitation through an asymptotic analysis in the near-contact limit, where the gap between the particle and the wall is narrow. In particular, we consider the distinguished limit in which the inert region is asymptotically comparable in size to the lubrication region. We analyze an axisymmetric configuration in which the inert face is oriented parallel to the wall and extend the analysis to slightly tilted orientations. We find that the capsize determines whether a tilted particle rotates back toward the axisymmetric state or continues to reorient, thereby characterizing its rotational stability in the near-contact regime.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_00791
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Autophoresis of a Janus particle near a planar wall: a lubrication limit
Ruangkriengsin, Tachin
Turk, Günther
Stone, Howard A.
Soft Condensed Matter
Fluid Dynamics
We study the self-diffusiophoresis of a spherical chemically active particle near a planar, impermeable wall, with a focus on the influence of particle orientation on propulsion. We analyze a Janus particle with asymmetric surface chemical activity, consisting of a small inert region within a catalytically active cap. While numerical simulations have been used to study such particles, they encounter difficulties resolving the flow and transport in the extreme near-wall regime due to geometric confinement and steep solute concentration gradients. We address this limitation through an asymptotic analysis in the near-contact limit, where the gap between the particle and the wall is narrow. In particular, we consider the distinguished limit in which the inert region is asymptotically comparable in size to the lubrication region. We analyze an axisymmetric configuration in which the inert face is oriented parallel to the wall and extend the analysis to slightly tilted orientations. We find that the capsize determines whether a tilted particle rotates back toward the axisymmetric state or continues to reorient, thereby characterizing its rotational stability in the near-contact regime.
title Autophoresis of a Janus particle near a planar wall: a lubrication limit
topic Soft Condensed Matter
Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.00791