Dynamically asymmetric and bicontinuous morphologies in active emulsions

Abstract

The morphology of a mixture made of a polar active gel immersed in an isotropic passive fluid is studied numerically. Lattice Boltzmann method is adopted to solve the Navier-Stokes equation and coupled to a finite-difference scheme used to integrate the dynamic equations of the concentration and of the polarization of the active component. By varying the relative amounts of the mixture phases, different structures can be observed. In the contractile case, at moderate values of activity, elongated structures are formed when the active component is less abundant, while a dynamic emulsion of passive droplets in an active matrix is obtained for symmetric composition. When the active component is extensile, aster-like rotating droplets and a phase-separated pattern appear for asymmetric and symmetric mixtures, respectively. The relevance of space dimensions in the overall morphology is shown by studying the system in three dimensions in the case of extensile asymmetric mixtures where interconnected tube-like structures span the whole system.

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Cited by in corpus (4)

• Rheology of active polar emulsions: from linear to unidirectional and unviscid flow, and intermittent viscosity
• Phase behaviour and dynamics of three-dimensional active dumbbell systems
• Rheology of active emulsions with negative effective viscosity
• Fluctuation Theorems for Heat exchanges between passive and active baths