Nematic Colloidal Swarms Assembled and Transported on Photosensitive Surfaces

We demonstrate a novel method to assemble and transport swarms of colloidal particles by combining liquid crystals enabled electrophoresis and photo-sensitive surface patterning. Colloidal particles are propelled in a nematic liquid crystal via application of an alternating current electric field. S...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Hernández Navarro, Sergi, Tierno, Pietro, Ignés i Mullol, Jordi, Sagués i Mestre, Francesc
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/67215
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/67215
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Col·loides
Cristalls líquids
Microfluídica
Colloids
Liquid crystals
Microfluidics
Descripción
Sumario:We demonstrate a novel method to assemble and transport swarms of colloidal particles by combining liquid crystals enabled electrophoresis and photo-sensitive surface patterning. Colloidal particles are propelled in a nematic liquid crystal via application of an alternating current electric field. Swarms of particles are assembled into a rotating mill cluster, or moved as a whole along predefined paths photo-imprinted on chemically functionalized substrates. This technique represents an alternative approach to fluid based lab-on-a-chip technologies guiding the motion of large ensembles of micrometer scale solid or liquid inclusions.