Dynamics and interactions of magnetically driven colloidal microrotors

Abstract

We study the pair interactions between magnetically driven colloidal microrotors with an anisotropic shape. An external precessing magnetic field induces a torque to these particles spinning them at a fixed angular frequency. When pair of rotors approach each other, the anisotropic particles interact via dipolar forces and hydrodynamic interactions (HIs) excited by their rotational motion. For applied field spinning close to the magic angle, m = 54.7 °, dipolar interactions vanish and the dynamic assembly of the pair is driven only by HIs. Further, we provide a theoretical description based on the balance between dipolar forces and HIs that allow understanding the role of anisotropy on the collective dynamics. Investigating microscopic colloidal rotors and understanding their collective dynamics are important tasks for both fundamental reasons, but also to engineer similar fluid stirrers that can be readily used for precise microscale operations or as microrheological probes.