Summary
International Symposium on Nonlinear Theory and its Applications
2005
Session Number:2-4-2
Session:
Number:2-4-2-1
Screening in particle attraction by capillary forces: from centimeter to nanometer scales
Vakhtang Putkaradze,
pp.573-576
Publication Date:2005/10/18
Online ISSN:2188-5079
Summary:
We discuss the surface-tension driven attraction of particles partially submerged in a fluid. We demonstrate a mathematical analogy between the attraction of millimeter-size particles (Cheerios effect) and nanometer-size particles used in directed selfassembly experiment. The Helmholtz equation for fluid/air interface is solved numerically using integral equation methods, and the force between an arbitrary number of particles can be computed. We make detailed study of the interaction of two and three particles and compare our findings with the established results from the literature. In particular, we discuss the validity of the geometric screening assumption.