Electrokinetically Driven Reversible Banding of Colloidal Particles Near the Wall

Abstract

This fluid dynamics video, presented at the 66th Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics (Pittsburgh, PA), shows how dielectric colloidal polystyrene (PS) particles with a negative surface charge in a dilute suspension flowing through a microchannel can be manipulated and assembled into streamwise structures by using a combination of shear and an applied negative electric field along the streamwise direction. Interestingly, these structures are only observed within about 1 um of the wall, which also has a negative surface charge, and are not present in the bulk flow.