Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-15-2024
Abstract
A nanocomposite film containing highly polarizable inclusions in a fluid background is explored when an external electric field is applied perpendicular to the planar film. For small electric fields, the induced dipole moments of the inclusions are all polarized in field direction, resulting in a mutual repulsion between the inclusions. Here we show that this becomes qualitatively different for high fields: the total system self-organizes into a state which contains both polarizations, parallel and antiparallel to the external field such that a fraction of the inclusions is counter-polarized to the electric field direction. We attribute this unexpected counter-polarization to the presence of neighboring dipoles which are highly polarized and locally revert the direction of the total electric field. Since dipoles with opposite moments are attractive, the system shows a wealth of novel equilibrium structures for varied inclusion density and electric field strength. These include fluids and solids with homogeneous polarizations as well as equilibrium clusters and demixed states with two different polarization signatures. Based on computer simulations of an linearized polarization model, our results can guide the control of nanocomposites for various applications, including sensing external fields, directing light within plasmonic materials, and controlling the functionality of biological membranes.
Keywords
2D nanocomposite, counter-polarized dipoles, dipole clustering, induced dipoles, membranes, structure factor
Publication Title
Journal of Colloid and Interface Science
Grant
LO418/23-1
Rights
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Elshad Allahyarov, Hartmut Löwen, Electric field-induced clustering in nanocomposite films of highly polarizable inclusions, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 668, 2024, Pages 587-598, ISSN 0021-9797, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2024.04.134.
Manuscript Version
Final Publisher Version