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SUMMARY:Thermal actuation of artificial microswimmers - Thomas Bickel\, Un
 iversité Bordeaux
DTSTART:20150521T120000Z
DTEND:20150521T130000Z
UID:TALK59573@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Julius Bier Kirkegaard
DESCRIPTION:The design of artificial micro- and nanoswimmers that propel t
 hemselves in a viscous fluid in the absence of mechanical forces is a chal
 lenging issue in nanotechnology. In recent years\, self-propulsion has bee
 n achieved using metal-capped Janus colloids under illumination by a laser
  beam. Janus colloids have two sides that differ in their physical or chem
 ical properties. Heat absorption by the metal cap generates a temperature 
 gradient which in turn gives rise to a flow in the surrounding fluid and t
 hus causes self-propulsion. In this talk\, I will first discuss the mechan
 isms responsible for the thermo-osmotic flow. I will then focus on the tem
 perature profile and the resulting flow pattern in the vicinity of a singl
 e Janus particle. Collective phenomena will be addressed next. In particul
 ar\, I will show that active colloids experience a viscous torque due to t
 hermal interactions in the nonuniform local field of their neighbors. This
  torque tends to align the particles with the temperature gradient and aff
 ects significantly the collective behavior at large Péclet number. Finall
 y\, I will also present preliminary results regarding thermal actuation of
  interfacial colloids.
LOCATION:MR11\, Centre for Mathematical Sciences\, Wilberforce Road\, Camb
 ridge
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