On the effect of morphology and particle-wall interaction on colloidal near-wall dynamics

Related publication:
J. A. Rivera-Morán, Y. Liu, S. Monter, C. Hsu, P. Ruckdeschel, M. Retsch, M. K. Lisicki and P. R. Lang. On the effect of morphology and particle-wall interaction on colloidal near-wall dynamics. Soft Matter 2021.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D1SM01191J

EUSMI proposal code:
E190800323

We investigated the near-wall Brownian dynamics of different types of colloidal particles with a typical size in the 100 nm range using evanescent wave dynamic light scattering (EWDLS). In detail we studied dilute suspensions of silica spheres and shells with a smooth surface and silica particles with controlled surface roughness. While the near wall dynamics of the particle with smooth surface differ only slightly from the theoretical prediction for hard spheres colloids, the rough particles diffuse significantly slower. We analysed the experimental data by comparison with model calculations and suggest that the deviating dynamics of the rough particles are not due to increased hydrodynamic interaction with the wall. Rather, the particle roughness significantly changes their DLVO interaction with the wall, which in turn effects their diffusion.