Thermophoresis and thermal orientation of Janus nanoparticles in thermal fields

Thermal fields provide a route to control the motion of nanoparticles and molecules and potentially modify the behaviour of soft matter systems. Janus nanoparticles have emerged as versatile building blocks for the self-assembly of materials with novel properties. Here we investigate using non-equil...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The European physical journal. E, Soft matter and biological physics Soft matter and biological physics, 2022, Vol.45 (7), p.59-59, Article 59
Main Authors: Bresme, Fernando, Olarte-Plata, Juan D., Chapman, Aidan, Albella, Pablo, Green, Calum
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anisotropy
Biological and Medical Physics
Biophysics
Colloquium - Soft Matter
Complex Fluids and Microfluidics
Complex Systems
Condensed matter physics
Critical point
Heterogeneous structure
Mass distribution
Molecular dynamics
Nanoparticles
Nanotechnology
Orientation
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Polymer Sciences
Self-assembly
Soft and Granular Matter
Soft Matter
Soret coefficient
Surfaces and Interfaces
Thermal non-equilibrium phenomena in fluid mixtures
Thermophoresis
Thin Films
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Summary:Thermal fields provide a route to control the motion of nanoparticles and molecules and potentially modify the behaviour of soft matter systems. Janus nanoparticles have emerged as versatile building blocks for the self-assembly of materials with novel properties. Here we investigate using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations the behaviour of coarse-grained models of Janus nanoparticles under thermal fields. We examine the role of the heterogeneous structure of the particle on the Soret coefficient and thermal orientation by studying particles with different internal structures, mass distribution, and particle–solvent interactions. We also examine the thermophoretic response with temperature, targeting liquid and supercritical states and near-critical conditions. We find evidence for a significant enhancement of the Soret coefficient near the critical point, leading to the complete alignment of a Janus particle in the thermal field. This behaviour can be modelled and rationalized using a theory that describes the thermal orientation with the nanoparticle Soret coefficient, the mass and interaction anisotropy of the Janus nanoparticle, and the thermal field’s strength. Our simulations show that the mass anisotropy plays a crucial role in driving the thermal orientation of the Janus nanoparticles. Graphic abstract
ISSN:1292-8941
1292-895X
DOI:10.1140/epje/s10189-022-00212-3