Berlin 2015 – scientific programme
Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help
BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 4: Colloids and Complex Liquids I (joint CPP/DY/BP)
BP 4.2: Talk
Monday, March 16, 2015, 09:45–10:00, C 130
Anisometry versus anisotropy in systems of colloidal magnetic cubes — •Joe Donaldson1 and Sofia Kantorovich1,2 — 1Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria — 2Ural Federal University, Lenin av. 51, 620083, Ekaterinburg, Russia
Contemporary colloid science provides numerous ways of synthesising particles with non-spherical geometries. Indeed, a whole spectrum of shapes is now readily accessible, cubes being one such example. The directionally dependent interactions of these particles are key tools in the development of new soft materials. An additional internal anisotropy is introduced into the system when these particles are constructed from a magnetic medium. Consequently, the interplay between anisometry and anisotropy, and its influence on how magnetic particles self-assemble, can be studied. Two different magnetic orientations within the cube have been considered; the first is represented by a dipole aligned along the [001] crystallographic axis, and the second by a dipole aligned along the [111] axis. We have determined the ground state structure of isolated clusters for both systems and have shown for the [001] orientation a preference for a ground state dominated by chain formation. In contrast, clusters of [111] orientated particles tend to arrange in lattices within which dipoles form ring structures consisting of four dipoles. We shall discuss the consequences of these structural configurations on the bulk properties of such systems, including preliminary predictions of the magnetic properties of dilute suspensions.