Title: Charge and force on a conductive sphere between two parallel electrodes: A Stokesian dynamics approach

Abstract

We present an accurate and efficient method to compute the electrostatic charge and force on a conductive sphere between two parallel electrodes. The method relies on a Stokesian dynamics-like approach, in which the capacitance tensor is divided into two contributions: (1) a far field contribution that captures the long range, many body interactions between the sphere and the two electrodes and (2) a near field contribution that captures the pairwise interactions between nearly contacting surfaces. The accuracy of this approach is confirmed by comparison to “exact” numerical results obtained by finite element modeling. From the capacitance tensor, we derive the charge and dipole moment on the sphere, the electrostatic free energy of the system, and the electrostatic force on the sphere. These quantities are used to describe the dynamics of micron-scale particles oscillating within a viscous dielectric liquid between two parallel electrodes subject to constant voltage. Simulated particle trajectories agree quantitatively with those captured experimentally by high speed imaging.

Authors:

Drews, Aaron M. ^[1]; Kowalik, Mikolaj ^[1]; Bishop, Kyle J. M. ^[1]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)

Publication Date:

Tue Aug 19 00:00:00 EDT 2014

Research Org.:

Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Center for Bio-Inspired Energy Science (CBES)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

OSTI Identifier:

1384753

Grant/Contract Number:  

SC0000989

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

Journal of Applied Physics

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 116; Journal Issue: 7; Related Information: CBES partners with Northwestern University (lead); Harvard University; New York University; Pennsylvania State University; University of Michigan; University of Pittsburgh; Journal ID: ISSN 0021-8979

Publisher:

American Institute of Physics (AIP)

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; catalysis (homogeneous); solar (photovoltaic); bio-inspired; charge transport; mesostructured materials; materials and chemistry by design; synthesis (novel materials); synthesis (self-assembly)