Interplay of particle shape and suspension properties: a study of cube-like particles.

Abstract

With advances in anisotropic particle synthesis, particle shape is now a feasible parameter for tuning suspension properties. However, there is a need to determine how these newly synthesized particles affect suspension properties and a need to solve the inverse problem of inferring the particle shape from property measurements. Either way, accurate suspension property predictions are required. Towards this end, we calculated a set of dilute suspension properties for a family of cube-like particles that smoothly interpolate between spheres and cubes. Using three conceptually different methods, we numerically computed the electrical properties of particle suspensions, including the intrinsic conductivity of perfect conductors and insulators. We also considered hydrodynamic properties relevant to particle solutions including the hydrodynamic radius, the intrinsic viscosity and the intrinsic solvent diffusivity. Additionally, we determined the second osmotic virial coefficient using analytic expressions along with numerical integration. As the particles became more cube-like, we found that all of the properties investigated become more sensitive to particle shape.