21.12.2004

Prof. Dr. Alois Würger


Centre de Physique Moléculaire Optique et Hertzienne
Université Bordeaux 1
351, cours de la Libération 33405 TALENCE Cedex,
France
 
email:  a.wuerger@cpmoh.u-bordeaux1.fr
URL:   http://www.cpmoh.u-bordeaux.fr/PagesEquipes/wuerger/index_frame_fr.html

Capillary attraction of charged colloidal particles on water droplets

Recent experiments revealed the existence of an attractive force of like charges on water droplets in oil (Nikolaides et al., Nature 2002). It is known that a charged particle trapped at a liquid interface exerts a non-uniform electric stress that results in a deformation of the surrounding interface; the superposition of such one-particle dimples induces a capillary repulsion. Here we show that the electric stress comprises additional two-particle contributions that lead to a much stronger attractive force and could well be at the origin of the mentioned experimental findings.