From single particle motion to collective dynamics in Janus motor systems

Abstract

The single-particle and collective dynamics of systems comprising Janus motors, solvent, and reactive solute species maintained in nonequilibrium states are investigated. Reversible catalytic reactions with the solute species take place on the catalytic faces of the motors, and the nonequilibrium states are established either by imposing constant-concentration reservoirs that feed and remove reactive species or through out-of-equilibrium fluid phase reactions. We consider general intermolecular interactions between the Janus motor hemispheres and the reactive species. For single motors, we show that the reaction rate depends nonlinearly on an applied external force when the system is displaced far from equilibrium. We also show that a finite-time fluctuation formula derived for fixed catalytic particles describes the nonequilibrium reactive fluctuations of moving Janus motors. Simulation of the collective dynamics of small ensembles of Janus motors with reversible kinetics under nonequilibrium conditions is carried out, and the spatial and orientational correlations of dynamic cluster states are discussed. The conditions leading to the instability of the homogeneous motor distribution and the onset of nonequilibrium dynamical clustering are described.