Dynamic ordering of driven spherocylinders in a nonequilibrium suspension of small colloidal spheres

Abstract

The ordering effects of driven spherocylinder-shaped rods in a colloidal suspension of small spheres confined to a two-dimensional channel geometry are observed via Brownian dynamics simulations without hydrodynamics. To describe the ordering, an order parameter and an expression for a potential of mean force of an equivalent equilibrium system are defined and analyzed. By varying the application point of the external force along the rods and thus the resulting lever, a transition from a preferred orientation parallel to the direction of the force to a preferred orientation perpendicular to the direction of the force was observed. It is shown that this effect can only be found if the spheres and multiple rods are present. Furthermore, a dependency of the order parameter on the absolute value of the force was discovered. The analysis of the potential of mean force further indicates a transition between two different phases of mean orientation. An observation of the flow equilibrium mean velocity in channel direction led to a s-shaped progression regarding the lever dependency, also marking a transition between two states linked to the mean orientation of the rods. A finite size analysis was conducted. Its results indicate that the transition between the two orientation states is a general phenomenon of the observed rod-sphere mixture.