We explore how the entropic notion of depletion forces between spheres, introduced by Asakura and Oosawa, can be extended to depletion torques that affect the orientations of colloidal particles having complex shapes. In prior experimental work, systems of microscale plate-like particles in the presence of a nanoscale depletion agent have been shown to form polymer-like columnar chains; restoring depletion torques act to align lithographically-structured platelets within a chain orientationally about the chain’s axis. We consider depletion torques corresponding to parallel, face-to-face, near-contact pair interactions for complex-shaped, plate-like, prismatic lithographic particles in colloidal dispersions containing a spherical nanoscale depletion agent. We calculate depletion torques for a wide variety of such particles, including rotationally symmetric, asymmetric, achiral, chiral, and elongated particles. Moreover, we determine depletion torques between two non-parallel proximate square platelets connected by a lossless hinge along a common edge. Our investigations show that depletion torques can be tailored through lithographic or synthetic design of specific geometrical features in the shapes of particles.
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14 October 2021
Research Article|
October 12 2021
Depletion torques between anisotropic colloidal particles
Special Collection:
Depletion Forces and Asakura-Oosawa Theory
Thomas G. Mason
Thomas G. Mason
a)
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California–Los Angeles
, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA
and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California–Los Angeles
, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: mason@chem.ucla.edu
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a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: mason@chem.ucla.edu
Note: This paper is part of the JCP Special Topic on Depletion Forces and Asakura–Oosawa Theory.
J. Chem. Phys. 155, 144903 (2021)
Article history
Received:
June 01 2021
Accepted:
August 18 2021
Citation
Thomas G. Mason; Depletion torques between anisotropic colloidal particles. J. Chem. Phys. 14 October 2021; 155 (14): 144903. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0058686
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