Optical properties of nanodiamond suspensions

The optical properties of nanodiamond suspensions have been calculated. The main supposition is that carbon dimers, which in many aspects are analogous to Pandey chains (2 × 1) on the surface of bulk diamond, are formed on the surface of nanodiamonds due to the surface reconstruction. All experimentally observed features of the absorption of nanodiamond suspensions have been explained on the basis of these ideas. Whereas the diamond nucleus does not absorb light in the visible spectral range, dimers on the surface of the diamond core absorb light in the entire range of optical wavelengths. In addition, there are two features at energies close to 1.5 and 5 eV in their absorption spectrum.     

Effective screening of hydrodynamic interactions in charged colloidal suspensions

We investigate the hydrodynamic interaction in suspensions of charged colloidal silica spheres. The volume fraction as well as the range of the electrostatic repulsion between the spheres is varied. Using a combination of dynamic x-ray scattering, cross-correlated dynamic light scattering, and small angle x-ray scattering, the hydrodynamic function H(q) is determined experimentally. The effective hydrodynamic interactions are found to be screened, if the range of the direct interaction is relatively long and the static density correlations are strong. This observation of effective hydrodynamic screening is in marked contrast to hard-sphere-like systems.     

Formation of nanodiamond films from aqueous suspensions during spin coating

The formation of multifunctional ordered arrays of detonation diamond particles is studied during self-assembling in spin coating of films of evaporating microdroplets. It is shown that the most homogeneous layer of diamond particles on a crystalline silicon substrate forms at a rate of substrate rotation of 8000 min^–1, whereas a relation between the distribution of particles and the radius is clearly detected at rates of about 2000 min^–1. As the rate of substrate rotation increases from 2500 to 8000 min^–1, the density of the coating of a silicon substrate with diamond nanoparticles decreases approximately threefold. A model is proposed to estimate the increase in the number of individual diamond “points” with the substrate rotation frequency.     

Full-wave modeling of piezoelectric transducers for SAW acousto-optical interactions

In this paper we present an accurate and efficient numerical method for a rigorous full-wave analysis of interdigital transducers (IDT) for the excitation of surface acoustic waves on the piezoelectric substrate of acousto-optical devices. The problem is formulated in terms of an integral equation that is solved by the method of moments. The transducer input admittance and the power coupling factors to both surface and bulk waves are computed. Numerical results for some configurations of X-Y LiNbO₃ IDT for acousto-optic applications are in very good agreement with measured data. It is pointed out that bulk wave excitation may be a serious limitation in the design of efficient, wide band transducers for acousto-optical devices.     

Effective interactions between colloidal particles suspended in a bath of swimming cells

The dynamics of passive colloidal tracers in a bath of self-propelled particles is receiving a lot of attention in the context of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics. Here we demonstrate that active baths are also capable of mediating effective interactions between suspended bodies. In particular we observe that a bath of swimming bacteria gives rise to a short range attraction similar to depletion forces in equilibrium colloidal suspensions. Using numerical simulations and experiments we show how the features of this interaction arise from the combination of nonequilibrium dynamics (peculiar of bacterial baths) and excluded volume effects.     

Electrostatically mediated adsorption by nanodiamond and nanocarbon particles

Nanodiamond (ND) and other nanocarbon particles are popular platforms for the immobilization of molecular species. In the present research, factors affecting adsorption and desorption of propidium iodide (PI) dye, chosen as a charged molecule model, on ND and sp ² carbon nanoparticles were studied, with a size ranging from 75 to 4,305 nm. It was found that adsorption of PI molecules, as characterized by ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, on ND particles is strongly influenced by sorbent-sorbate electrostatic interactions. Different types of NDs with a negative zeta potential were found to adsorb positively charged PI molecules, while no PI adsorption was observed for NDs with a positive zeta potential. The type and density of surface groups of negatively charged NDs greatly influenced the degree and capacity of the PI adsorbed. Ozone-purified NDs had the highest capacity for PI adsorption, due to its greater density of oxygen containing groups, i.e., acid anhydrides and carboxyls, as assessed by TDMS and TOF–SIMS. Single wall nanohorns and carbon onion particles were found to adsorb PI regardless of their zeta potential; this is likely due to π bonding between the aromatic rings of PI and the graphitic surface of the materials and the internal cavity of the horns.     

Many-body hydrodynamic interactions in suspensions

We consider hydrodynamic interactions between N rigid bodies of arbitrary shape immersed in an incompressible fluid. We study the generalized mobility matrix relating the translational and rotational velocities and the symmetric force dipole moments to the forces, the torques and the strain of an incident flow field. We show that the elements of the mobility matrix may be obtained as matrix elements of an operator related to the friction kernel. This allows a multiple scattering expansion of the mobility matrix.     

Experimental study of electric discharge treatment of nanodiamond particles in water

A novel type of high voltage pulsed electric discharge in water flow in a Venturi tube is proposed. The influence of the novel discharge on sizes and properties of nanodiamond particles has been studied. Experiments were carried out in water media with purified detonation nanodiamonds made impure by non-diamond carbon material. The ability of high voltage pulsed electric discharge in water to modify nanoparticle conglomerates in water solution and to relieve spherically shaped nanodiamond conglomerates from the initial mixture with non-diamond material can be seen. Prolonged treatment of the suspension made it possible to relieve primary nanodiamond crystals from conglomerates. Formation of ordered and unordered structures from primary (3?C5 nm) nanodiamond crystals has been observed. Study of the electric discharge in water was carried out at the pressure region from atmospheric down to 0.02 atm to reproduce conditions which are typical for the discharge in the Venturi tube in liquid flow and different gap lengths. Two ??types?? of discharge behavior depending on the geometry of the discharge system and other external parameters have been observed. Characteristics that are critical for understanding the behavior of the discharge in the Venturi tube in water flow have been investigated.     

Colloidal interactions in suspensions of rods

We report direct measurements of entropic interactions of colloidal spheres in suspensions of rodlike fd bacteriophage. We investigate the influence of sphere size, rod concentration, and ionic strength on these interactions. Although the results compare favorably with a recent calculation, small discrepancies reveal entropic effects due to rod flexibility. At high salt concentrations, the potential turns repulsive as a result of viral adsorption on the spheres and viral bridging between the spheres.     

Diffusion of colloidal particles in swimming suspensions

Previously, we have proposed to analyse the hydrodynamic interactions in a suspension of swimmers with respect to an effective hydrodynamic diffusion coefficient, which only considers the fluctuating motion caused by the stirring of the fluid. In this work, we study the diffusion of colloidal particles immersed in a bath of swimmers. To accurately resolve the many-body hydrodynamic interactions responsible for this diffusion, we use a direct numerical simulation scheme based on the smooth profile method. We consider a squirmer model for the self-propelled swimmers, as it accurately reproduces the flow field generated by real microorganisms, such as bacteria or spermatozoa. We show that the diffusion coefficients of the colloids are comparable with the effective diffusion coefficients of the swimmers, provided that the concentration of swimmers is high enough. At low concentrations, the difference in the way colloids and swimmers react to the flow leads to a reduction in the diffusion coefficient of the colloids. This is clearly seen in the appearance of a negative-correlation region for the velocity-correlation function of the colloids, which does not exist for the swimmers.     

Rheology of suspensions of rodlike particles

Suspensions of rigid rodlike particles in Newtonian suspending fluids are considered. We discuss the dependence of the relative viscosity _r upon the volume fraction of particles, their aspect ratioa _r, and the particle orientation distribution when the particles are sufficiently large that hydrodynamic forces are dominant. Theoretical results are reviewed for a variety of long slender particles. Experimental results obtained using classical rheometrical techniques are discussed. It is shown that whena _r25, data from several laboratories agree and they indicate that _r depends more strongly upon thana _r. Previous experimental results using falling ball rheometry are discussed as well as some more recent findings. These are shown to provide insights heretofore unavailable into the macroscopic rheology of suspensions of randomly oriented and oriented rods.     

Many-body hydrodynamic interactions in charge-stabilized suspensions

In this joint experimental-theoretical work we study hydrodynamic interaction effects in dense suspensions of charged colloidal spheres. Using x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy we have determined the hydrodynamic function H(q), for a varying range of electrosteric repulsion. We show that H(q) can be quantitatively described by means of a novel Stokesian dynamics simulation method for charged Brownian spheres, and by a modification of a many-body theory developed originally by Beenakker and Mazur. Very importantly, we can explain the behavior of H(q) for strongly correlated particles without resorting to the controversial concept of hydrodynamic screening, as was attempted in earlier work by Riese [Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 5460 (2000)].     

Probing of liquids by Bessel light beams under conditions of acousto-optical interactions

The acousto-optical interactions of Bessel and Gaussian light beams with the ultrasonic field in liquids under the condition of Raman-Nath diffraction for the standing-wave mode are experimentally investigated. The main differences of acousto-optical interactions for Bessel and Gaussian light beams are revealed. The various phenomena of refraction and focusing of Bessel beam in liquids owing to sound-field spatial modulation are demonstrated.     

Propagation of hydrodynamic interactions in colloidal suspensions

We describe direct measurements of the dynamics of two colloidal spheres before hydrodynamic interactions have had time to fully develop. We find that the dynamics of the two spheres are coupled at times significantly shorter than tau(nu), the time required for vorticity to diffuse between the two spheres. From the distance dependence of the measured coupling, we infer that hydrodynamic interactions develop in a sonic time scale.     

Dynamics in dense suspensions of charge-stabilized colloidal particles

The dynamic behavior of charge-stabilized colloidal particles in suspension was studied by photon correlation spectroscopy with coherent X-rays (XPCS). The short-time diffusion coefficient, D(Q) , was measured for volume concentrations φ ⩽ 0.18 and compared to the free particle diffusion constant D₀ and the static structure factor S(Q) . The data show that indirect, hydrodynamic interactions are relevant for the system and hydrodynamic functions were derived. The results are in striking contrast to the predictions of the PA (pairwise-additive approximation) model, but show features typical for a hard-sphere system. The observed mobility is however considerably smaller than the one of a respective hard-sphere system. The hydrodynamic functions can be modelled quantitatively if one allows for an increased effective viscosity relative to the hard-sphere case.     

Chemical state of carbon atoms on the surface of nanodiamond particles

Auger electron spectroscopy study of the chemical state of carbon atoms on the surface of nanodiamond particles is performed. Auger spectra of nanodiamond particles indicate that carbon atoms in nanodiamond are in the same state as those in graphite, i.e., in the σ _s ¹ σ _p ² π¹ state, but the π band is displaced 1 eV in energy below the Fermi level. The surface of nanodiamond particles is inert with respect to the ambient medium.     

Effective interactions are effective interactions

In recent years it has been realized that effective interactions—those valid over a limited range of energy-momentum—are often preferable even when more complete theories are available. We shall here present examples of such methods over a range of physical applications—from classical and quantum mechanics, to quantum gravity.     

Diffusion and spatial correlations in suspensions of swimming particles

Populations of swimming micro-organisms produce fluid motions that lead to dramatically enhanced diffusion of tracer particles. Using simulations of suspensions of swimming particles in a periodic domain, we capture this effect and show that it depends qualitatively on the mode of swimming: swimmers "pushed" from behind by their flagella show greater enhancement than swimmers that are "pulled" from the front. The difference is manifested by an increase, that only occurs for pushers, of the diffusivity of passive tracers and the velocity correlation length with the size of the periodic domain. A physical argument supported by a mean field theory sheds light on the origin of these effects.