Charging of Heated Colloidal Particles Using the Electrolyte Seebeck Effect

Abstract

We propose a novel actuation mechanism for colloids, which is based on the Seebeck effect of the electrolyte solution: Laser heating of a nonionic particle accumulates in its vicinity a net charge Q, which is proportional to the excess temperature at the particle surface. The corresponding long-range thermoelectric field provides a tool for controlled interactions with nearby beads or with additional molecular solutes. An external field Eext drags the thermocharged particle at a velocity that depends on its size and absorption properties; the latter point could be particularly relevant for separating carbon nanotubes according to their electronic band structure.

4 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (4)

• Self-motile colloidal particles: from directed propulsion to random walk
• Propulsion of a molecular machine by asymmetric distribution of reaction--products
• Transport in Charged Colloids Driven by Thermoelectricity
• Collective thermoelectrophoresis of charged colloids

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• Nanoscale Seebeck effect at hot metal nanostructures
• A computational approach to calculate the heat of transport of aqueous solutions
• Tuning the size and configuration of nanocarbon microcapsules: aqueous method using optical tweezers