Project B9
Computer Simulations of Charged Colloids in Alternating Electric Fields
Project leaders
Summary
We propose to study the response of spherical and rodlike charged colloids to alter- nating electric (AC) fields by mesoscopic simulation methods, accounting in full for hydrodynamic and electrostatic interactions. Specifically, we plan to investigate the dielectric response of single colloids, the AC-driven effective (nonequilibrium) interac- tions between colloids, and the experimentally observed AC-driven pattern formation in thin films. Several relevant parameters such as the field amplitude and frequency and the ionic strength of the electrolyte shall be varied systematically.