Understanding enhanced rotational dynamics of active probes in rod suspensions

N Narinder, M F Bos, C Abaurrea-Velasco, J de Graaf, C Bechinger

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Active Brownian particles (APs) have recently been shown to exhibit enhanced rotational diffusion (ERD) in complex fluids. Here, we experimentally observe ERD and numerically corroborate its microscopic origin for a quasi-two-dimensional suspension of colloidal rods. At high density, the rods form small rafts, wherein they perform small-amplitude, high-frequency longitudinal displacements. Activity couples AP-rod contacts to reorientation, with the variance therein leading to ERD. This is captured by a local, rather than a global relaxation time, as used in previous phenomenological modeling. Our result should prove relevant to the microrheological characterization of complex fluids and furthering our understanding of the dynamics of microorganisms in such media.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)6246-6253
Number of pages8
JournalSoft Matter
Volume18
Issue number33
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Aug 2022

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