Irreversible adsorption of colloid particles on heterogeneous surfaces

Irreversible adsorption of polystyrene latex particles of micrometer size range at heterogeneous surfaces was studied experimentally. Model substrate surfaces of controlled site coverage (heterogeneity degree) used in these studies were produced by preadsorption of positively charged latex particles on mica sheets. Deposition kinetics of latex was studied as a function of the site coverage, particle to site size ratio λ and ionic strength of the colloid suspension. Particle distributions over surfaces and coverage were quantitatively evaluated by the direct microscope observation techniques using the diffusion cell. In this way, pair correlation function for various coverage degree and particle size ratio was evaluated. It also was determined the dependence of the jamming coverage of colloid particles on site coverage and ionic strength of the suspension. It was demonstrated that the decrease in the ionic strength of the suspension resulted in a significant decrease in the jamming coverage. This was attributed to the effect of the electrostatic field generated by the interface whose range was increased for low ionic strength. These experimental data revealed, in accordance with theoretical predictions derived from numerical simulations, that the multiple site coordination exerted a pronounced effect on the jamming coverage and the structure of adsorbed layers. It also was shown that this effect can be regulated by changes in the ionic strength of particle suspensions. This could allow one to produce particle clusters at the surface of targeted composition.     

Random sequential adsorption of polydisperse spherical particles: An integral-equation theory

Our previously developed integral-equation theories were applied to incorporate the effect of polydispersity in the study of the random sequential addition of spherical particles. By using the simplest uniform size distribution, we found that results from theories were in consistence with the Monte Carlo simulation results. Some deviations were seen, which resulted from the exclusion effects of polydisperse particles. It was found in the simulations that with increasing densities, small particles adsorbed preferentially and the size distribution skewed towards the smaller particles. Therefore, to accurately predict the correct radial distribution functions, the more appropriate size distributions are needed. For all size ranges, which were 0.40d–1.60d, 0.75d–1.25d, and 0.90d–1.10d, the radial distribution functions from theory at number densities of 0.2, 0.4 and 0.65 were in good agreements with those from the simulations.     

Blocking effects in irreversible adsorption of linear macromolecules

A new variant of random sequential adsorption (RSA), namely random sequential ballistic adsorption (RSBA), is proposed to explore the possible role of blocking effects in the adsorption dynamics of ballistically arriving objects. These objects upon adsorption can protrude outside the substrate and in turn can obstruct and hence reject the adsorption of newly arriving objects. Adsorption of linear macromolecules (modeled as infinitesimally thin needles), on a two-dimensional continuum substrate is studied using RSBA model. It is shown analytically that in late time regime, the number n(t) of adsorbed objects at time t follows a power law n(t) ∼ t^α, as in RSA, but with a different exponent, α = 2/3. Computer simulations are also carried out. The simulation results are found to be in close agreement with the analytical results. The exponent behavior for real experimental conditions is also analyzed.     

Coverage and Structure of Films of Spherical Particles Deposited after Diffusing in a Gravitational Field

We investigate the coverage and structure of a layer of particles deposited on a line after diffusion in a gravitational field. The dynamics of the depositing particles is controlled by the gravity number N _G(=d ⁴ g/6k _B T), where d is the diameter of the particles, is the density difference between the particles and the solution, g is the acceleration due to gravity, k _B is Boltzmann's constant, and T is the temperature. The position-dependent flux of particles in a gap formed by two preadsorbed particles is estimated by superposition of solutions of a steady-state convective diffusion equation for the flux in the presence of a single preadsorbed particle. The saturation coverages are found with a recursion relation and are in good agreement with those obtained from Brownian dynamics simulation. The jamming coverage increases rapidly with increasing particle size, particularly for large values of . An algorithm is presented to generate adsorbed configurations from which the structure of the deposit is determined.     

The local density of states in finite size photonic structures, small particles approach

The local density of states is studied with the help of the local perturbation method for vector and scalar wave fields propagating in finite size photonic structures. The local density of states is numerically calculated for one-, two-, and three-dimensional finite size photonic structures considering them as made of small particles.