Structure and Diffusive Motion in Confined Multi-component Colloid Suspensions

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Stuart Rice is supported by a grant from the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division to perform experimental and theoretical studies of the properties of quasi-two-dimensional systems. The systems studied are suspensions of uncharged monodisperse colloid particles in very thin cells. The proposed experimental studies are based on digital video microscopy measurements and image analysis, while the theoretical tools include computer simulations, statistical mechanics, and hydrodynamics. Particular questions to be addressed include 1) the influence of the interplay between the range and strength of the direct (non-hydrodynamic) colloid-colloid interaction and the scale of confinement on the structures of the phases that a dense colloid suspension can support; and 2) the effects of the interplay between the direct colloid-colloid interaction, the hydrodynamic interactions in the suspension, and the scale of confinement on the diffusive motion of pairs, triplets, etc., of colloid particles in a quasi-two-dimensional or quasi-one-dimensional environment.The main thrust of this project is to understand the structural and dynamical features of confined colloid systems and the application of that knowledge to other systems. The studies will lead to a deeper understanding of the properties of liquid systems that, because they are constrained to two-dimensional motion, exhibit unique thermodynamic behavior. This work will also enhance insight about the self-organization of colloids, and hence the nature of cell membranes, and it may ultimately have important applications for nanotechnology and the control of microfluidic devices. In the course of these studies undergraduate and graduate students as well as postdoctoral researchers receive training in the use of state-of-the art experimental and theoretical techniques.