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Electrophoretic Deposition of Nanomaterials pp 3–71Cite as

Mechanisms of Directed Assembly of Colloidal Particles in Two Dimensions by Application of Electric Fields

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Part of the book series: Nanostructure Science and Technology ((NST))

Abstract

When electric fields interact with particles immersed in liquids and levitated near electrodes, the particles assemble into structures such as ordered arrays or chains. For example, direct electric current flowing through an aqueous solution held between two parallel-plate electrodes produces two dimensional arrays of colloidal particles near one of the electrodes. A high frequency electric field imposed in-plane, by contrast, forms chains of particles. These phenomena have interested scientists and engineers for a century; the multiphysics of the phenomena make it a rich problem for both theoreticians and experimentalists. Experimental investigations into the translation of particles laterally along surfaces when electric fields are applied normally to those surfaces, and into chain formation when the field is applied tangentially, have led to proposed mechanisms and theory by which colloidal particles and even cells move relative to the nearby surface and relative to each other. These mechanisms-, electrophoresis, electroosmosis, electrohydrodynamics, induced dipole repulsion, and dielectrophoresis- and supporting experimental evidence are the main topics of this account.

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Acknowledgement

The authors acknowledge the support of the National Science Foundation for research on this topic through grants CTS0089875, CTS0338089, and CBET0730391.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 15213, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Paul J. Sides, Christopher L. Wirth & Dennis C. Prieve

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  1. Paul J. Sides
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  2. Christopher L. Wirth
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  3. Dennis C. Prieve
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Correspondence to Paul J. Sides .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Physics & Astronomy, Vanderbilt University Dept. Physics & Astronomy, Nashville, Tennessee, USA

    James H. Dickerson

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engi, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany

    Aldo R. Boccaccini

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Sides, P.J., Wirth, C.L., Prieve, D.C. (2012). Mechanisms of Directed Assembly of Colloidal Particles in Two Dimensions by Application of Electric Fields. In: Dickerson, J., Boccaccini, A. (eds) Electrophoretic Deposition of Nanomaterials. Nanostructure Science and Technology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9730-2_1

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