Biomedical subjects

H H Wensink

Publications and source records attributed to H H Wensink.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Rhythmic cluster generation in strongly driven colloidal dispersions.

We study the response of a nematic colloidal dispersion of rods to a driven probe particle which is dragged with high speed through the dispersion perpendicular to the nematic director. In front of the dragged particle, clusters of rods are generated which rhythmically grow and dissolve by rotational motion. We find evidence for a mesoscopic cluster-cluster correlation length, independent of the imposed drag speed. Our results are based on nonequilibrium Brownian dynamics computer simulations and in line with a dynamical scaling theory.

Cluster Analysis↗

PubMed2006

Coexistence diameter in two-dimensional colloid-polymer mixtures.

We demonstrate that the law of the rectilinear coexistence diameter in two-dimensional mixtures of nonspherical colloids and nonadsorbing polymers is violated. Upon approach to the critical point, the diameter shows logarithmic singular behavior governed by a term t ln t, with t the relative distance from the critical point. No sign of a term t2beta could be detected, with beta the critical exponent of the order parameter, indicating a very weak or absent Yang-Yang anomaly. Our analysis thus reveals that nonspherical particle shape alone is not sufficient for the formation of a pronounced Yang-Yang anomaly in the critical behavior of fluids.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2006

Magnetic-field-induced orientational order in the isotropic phase of hard colloidal platelets.

The magnetic-field-induced orientational order in the isotropic phase of colloidal gibbsite [Al(OH)3] platelets is studied by means of optical birefringence and small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) techniques. The suspensions display field-induced ordering at moderate field strengths (a few Tesla), which increases with increasing particle concentration. The gibbsite particles align their normals perpendicular to the magnetic field and hence possess a negative anisotropy of their diamagnetic susceptibility Delta(chi). The results can be described following a simple, Onsager-like approach. A simplified model is derived that allows one to obtain the orientational distribution function directly from the scattering data. However, it leads to an underestimate of the diamagnetic susceptibility anisotropy Delta(chi). This accounts for the difference between the Delta(chi) values provided by the two experimental techniques (SAXS and magneto-optics). The order of magnitude Delta(chi) approximately 10(-22) J/T(2) lies in between that of goethite suspensions and that of suspensions of organic particles.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

Nematic order of model goethite nanorods in a magnetic field.

We explore the nematic order of model goethite nanorods in an external magnetic field within Onsager-Parsons density functional theory. The goethite rods are represented by monodisperse, charged spherocylinders with a permanent magnetic moment along the rod main axis, forcing the particles to align parallel to the magnetic field at low field strength. The intrinsic diamagnetic susceptibility anisometry of the rods is negative, which leads to a preferred perpendicular orientation at higher field strength. It is shown that these competing effects may give rise to intricate phase behavior, including a pronounced stability of biaxial nematic order and the presence of reentrant phase transitions and demixing phenomena.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Equation of state of a dense columnar liquid crystal.

An accurate description of a columnar liquid crystal of hard disks at high packing fractions is presented using an improved free-volume theory. It is shown that the orientational entropy of the disks in the (one-dimensional) fluid direction leads to a different high-density scaling pressure compared to the prediction from traditional cell theory. Excellent quantitative agreement is found with recent Monte Carlo simulation results for various thermodynamic and structural properties.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2002

Biaxial versus uniaxial nematic stability in asymmetric rod-plate mixtures.

The isotropic-nematic phase behavior of a binary mixture of rodlike and platelike particles is studied within Onsager's second virial theory. The phase behavior is obtained from the numerically exact equilibrium orientational distribution functions for both uniaxial and biaxial nematic phases. Inspired by recent experimental work on these systems we concentrated on asymmetric mixtures in which the excluded volume between the plates v(pp)(ex) is larger than that between the rods v(rr)(ex). Starting from the symmetric case (v(pp)(ex)/v(rr)(ex)=1) and increasing the rod-plate excluded volume ratio we scrutinized the phase behavior, in particular focusing on the stability of the biaxial nematic phase. We observe that, at a certain asymmetry, the characteristic bicritical point is replaced by a two-phase region marking first order isotropic-biaxial transitions. Increasing the asymmetry even further leads to several demixing scenarios. First, there is a uniaxial-biaxial (N+-B) demixing scenario with an associated isotropic-uniaxial-biaxial (I-N+-B) triple equilibrium. Second, a uniaxial-uniaxial (N+-N-) demixing occurs in case of strongly asymmetric mixtures indicating that the biaxial nematic phase may become fully metastable. Since all predicted demixing scenarios lie in the experimentally accessible regime, there is a possibility of finding biaxial nematic structures in lyotropic colloidal rod-plate mixtures.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2002

Phase equilibria in systems of hard disks with thickness polydispersity.

We study isotropic-nematic (I-N) phase equilibria in the Onsager (-Parsons) model for systems of hard colloidal disks allowing for arbitrary polydispersity in thickness. The phase behavior is investigated by analyzing the exact phase equilibrium equations for Gaussian orientational distribution functions. We observe a strong fractionation effect, with the thicker disks found preferentially in the isotropic phase. Due to this effect, the system may undergo an I-N density inversion indicating that the mass density of the isotropic phase becomes higher than that of the coexisting nematic phase. This phenomenon has been observed explicitly in experiment. We also encounter a divergence of the I-N coexistence region for Schulz-distributed parents with polydispersities larger than 46%. An implication of this phenomenon is that the system cannot become fully nematic at high densities but will continue to split off a small fraction of a dilute isotropic phase predominantly containing very thick species.

Journal Article↗