Active interfacial layers of soft matters

Hong-Ren Jiang^1*

¹Institute of Applied Mechanics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

* Presenter:Hong-Ren Jiang, email:hrjiang@iam.ntu.edu.tw

Interfacial layers, such as electrical double layer and depletion layer, are critical for soft matters for their properties and stabilities. Recent studies shows that the interfacial layers also play important roles for achieving active soft matters, such as self-propelled particles. However the properties of the interfaces out of equilibrium are rarely studies experimentally in detail. In this report, several experimental designs are used to create out-of-equilibrium conditions, such as thermal gradients, electrical fields and chemical reactions, to study the dynamical response of interfacial layers of soft matters for revealing their unusual properties. Different coupling effects of interfaces between electric field, thermal gradient and concentration gradient are found and possible mechanisms will be discussed.

Keywords: electrical double layer, thermophoresis, interface, colloid