abstract

• Hydrophobic poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) colloidal particles, when dispersed in oil with a relatively high dielectric constant, can become highly charged. In the presence of an interface with a conducting aqueous phase, image-charge effects lead to strong binding of colloidal particles to the interface, even though the particles are wetted very little by the aqueous phase. We study both the behavior of individual colloidal particles as they approach the interface and the interactions between particles that are already interfacially bound. We demonstrate that using particles which are minimally wetted by the aqueous phase allows us to isolate and study those interactions which are due solely to charging of the particle surface in oil. Finally, we show that these interactions can be understood by a simple image-charge model in which the particle charge q is the sole fitting parameter. © 2015 American Physical Society.

authors

• Chaikin P.M.
• Grier D.G.
• Guerra R.E.
• Guerrero García Guillermo Iván
• Hollingsworth A.D.
• Kelleher C.P.
• Krishnatreya B.J.
• Manoharan V.N.
• Wang A.

publication date

• 2015-01-01

funding provided via

• DMR-1105417, DMR-1420073, DMR-1420570  Grant
• NNX13AR67G  Grant
• National Science Foundation, NSF: 1105417, 1420073, 1420570  Grant

published in

• Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics  Journal

keywords

• Colloids; Esters; Hydrophobicity; Wetting; Colloidal particle; Fitting parameters; High dielectric constants; Image-charge effects; Image-charge model; Particle charge; Particle surface; Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA); Phase interfaces

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• 10.1103/PhysRevE.92.062306

start page

end page

volume

• 92

issue

• 6