2017 Theses Doctoral

An Active Approach to Engineering the Microscopic

Mallory, Stewart Anthony

Active colloids, which can be thought of as the synthetic analog of swimming bacteria, exhibit remarkable collective behavior. Using a combination of computer simulations and analytical theory, I have looked to provide quantitative answers to fundamental questions concerning the phase behavior and material properties of active suspensions. A primary focus of my Ph.D work has been devoted to developing novel techniques to exploit the active nature of these particles to manipulate and self-assemble matter at the colloidal scale. In the introductory chapter, I discuss recent advances in the self-assembly of self-propelled colloidal particles and highlight some of the most exciting results in this field. The remaining chapters are each self-contained and focus on a particular topic within active colloidal self-assembly. These chapters are ordered in terms of system complexity, and begins with characterizing the thermomechanical properties of an ideal active fluid. The next three chapters are centered around characterizing the effective interactions induced by an active suspension. The last two chapters focus on using self-propulsion as a tool to improve colloidal self-assembly, and understanding the interplay between self-propulsion and anisotropic pair interaction.