Controlling the dynamics of active colloidal liquid crystals by external fields

Basic data for this project

Description

Active colloidal particles are colloidal particles that are equipped with an internal self-propulsion mechanism. They are therefore intrinsically out of thermodynamic equilibrium, behave in a much more complicated way than their passive counterparts and have unique properties. Examples for active colloidal particles are swimming microorganisms and some artificial realizations. Of particular relevance are active colloidal liquid crystals, which are suspensions of nonspherical active colloidal particles and a basis for new active materials with intriguing properties. The main objective of this research project is to find a reliable way to control the dynamics of active colloidal liquid crystals by external fields. In addition we will study self-acoustophoretic self-propulsion and mixtures of different active and passive colloidal liquid crystals. The expected results of this project are relevant for statistical physics, materials science and nanomedicine.