Emergent Aggregation Behavior of Magnetic Top like Particles in Passive Solution
Poster Number
09B
Format
Poster Presentation
Faculty Mentor Name
Joshua Steimel
Faculty Mentor Department
Mechanical Engineering
Abstract/Artist Statement
Aggregation of particles in an active environment is a relatively untouched field with very few models and experiments. Active matter research studies ferromagnetic “active” particles in a monolayer of polystyrene “passive” particles. Active particles are excited with an external magnetic field to induce an alternating clockwise and counterclockwise moment vector around the z axis of the particle. These active particles rotate and create microfluidic systems that groups the passive monolayer particles into clusters. Passive particles aggregate based on the movement of the active particles and the analysis of that can help model microfluidic and biological systems. Samples were placed in a Helmholtz coil like apparatus containing looped wires that created a magnetic field that would move the active particles around within the passive medium. Experiments were conducted for about 10-20 minutes and included the movement of active particles spinning in clockwise and counterclockwise directions alternating for 1s,10s, 30s, 60s, 120s, and 300s durations repeated for the experiments duration. Particles were not only spinning but were also rotating at an angle around the z axis which creates different movement from that of the already researched spinning particles. Analysis of the video involved taking snapshots and differentiating the particles from the surrounding fluid then evaluating the size of the open spaces to correlate between cluster size. Different durations of corresponded to different aggregation patterns and preliminary finds show that the aggregation of active particles could only reach a approximate dimension before breaking apart and then reform the clusters. Future studies will continue to test duration times and eventually model the process through software.
Location
DeRosa University Center Ballroom
Start Date
27-4-2018 12:30 PM
End Date
27-4-2018 2:30 PM
Emergent Aggregation Behavior of Magnetic Top like Particles in Passive Solution
DeRosa University Center Ballroom
Aggregation of particles in an active environment is a relatively untouched field with very few models and experiments. Active matter research studies ferromagnetic “active” particles in a monolayer of polystyrene “passive” particles. Active particles are excited with an external magnetic field to induce an alternating clockwise and counterclockwise moment vector around the z axis of the particle. These active particles rotate and create microfluidic systems that groups the passive monolayer particles into clusters. Passive particles aggregate based on the movement of the active particles and the analysis of that can help model microfluidic and biological systems. Samples were placed in a Helmholtz coil like apparatus containing looped wires that created a magnetic field that would move the active particles around within the passive medium. Experiments were conducted for about 10-20 minutes and included the movement of active particles spinning in clockwise and counterclockwise directions alternating for 1s,10s, 30s, 60s, 120s, and 300s durations repeated for the experiments duration. Particles were not only spinning but were also rotating at an angle around the z axis which creates different movement from that of the already researched spinning particles. Analysis of the video involved taking snapshots and differentiating the particles from the surrounding fluid then evaluating the size of the open spaces to correlate between cluster size. Different durations of corresponded to different aggregation patterns and preliminary finds show that the aggregation of active particles could only reach a approximate dimension before breaking apart and then reform the clusters. Future studies will continue to test duration times and eventually model the process through software.