Percolation in Suspensions of Rod-like Colloids under Shear Flow

导电胶体悬浮液是一类有趣的储能材料。这种悬浮液的实际应用取决于它们的流动特性和电输运特性。棒状胶体表现出非常复杂的流动行为，它们形成的导电网络结构敏感地取决于它们的局部排列。因此，改变胶体的长径比、其尺寸多分散性和溶剂的粘度可以调节悬浮液的流变性和电学性质。在拟议的项目中，我们将研究棒状胶体悬浮液的流体动力学流动，流动下的渗流转变以及由此产生的网络的导电性。我们将使用计算机模拟(多粒子碰撞动力学)来模拟流体动力相互作用，并将使用我们小组最近发展的一种新的渗流理论方法来分析渗流转变。其目的是了解流动和传导性之间的相互作用，特别是预测胶体形成的导电网络是健壮的，悬浮液的粘度很小的条件。为了验证我们的预测，我们将与化学工程领域的两个研究小组密切合作。

Suspensions of electrically conductive colloids are an interesting class of materials for applications in energy storage. The practical use of such suspensions depends on their flow behaviour and their electric transport properties. Rod-like colloids show a very complex flow behaviour and the structure of the conductive networks, which they form, depends sensitively on their local alignment. Thus, changing the aspect ratio of the colloids, their size polydispersity and the viscosity of the solvent allows to tune both the rheological as well as the electrical properties of the suspension. In the proposed project we will study the hydrodynamic flow of suspensions of rod-like colloids, the percolation transition under flow and the conductivity of the resulting networks. We will use computer simulations (Multiparticle Collision Dynamics) to model the hydrodynamic interactions and we will use a new approach to percolation theory, which has recently been developed by our group, to analyse the percolation transition. The aim is to understand the interplay between flow and conductivity and, in particular, to predict conditions under which the conductive networks formed by the colloids are robust and the viscosity of the suspensions is small. To test our predictions, we will collaborate closely with two research groups in chemical engineering.