Electrostatic wrapping of a microfiber around a curved particle. Issue 13 (13th January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nunes, Janine K.; Li, Jiang; Griffiths, Ian M.; Rallabandi, Bhargav; Man, Jia; Stone, Howard A.
• Is Part Of: Soft matter. Volume 17:Issue 13(2021)
• Page Start: 3609
• Page End: 3618
• Publication Date: 2021-01-13
• Subjects: Soft condensed matter -- Periodicals; 530.413
• DOI: 10.1039/d0sm01857k
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1744-683X

Abstract

Abstract : Using experiments and modeling, we study the spontaneous wrapping of a negatively charged microfiber around a positively charged disk-shaped particle immersed in a liquid. Abstract : The dynamics of the wrapping of a charged flexible microfiber around an oppositely charged curved particle immersed in a viscous fluid is investigated. We observe that the wrapping behavior varies with the radius and Young's modulus of the fiber, the radius of the particle, and the ionic strength of the surrounding solution. We find that wrapping is primarily a function of the favorable interaction energy due to electrostatics and the unfavorable deformation energy needed to conform the fiber to the curvature of the particle. We perform an energy balance to predict the critical particle radius for wrapping, finding reasonably good agreement with experimental observations. In addition, we use mathematical modeling and observations of the deflected shape of the free end of the fiber during wrapping to extract a measurement of the Young's modulus of the fiber. We evaluate the accuracy and potential limitations of this in situ measurement when compared to independent mechanical tests.