8th Liquid Matter Conference September 6-10, 2011 Wien, Austria ...

Wed 711:10-14:00P5.55Friction controlled bending solitons as folding pathwaytoward colloidal clustersThomas Fischer 11 University of Bayreuth, Universitaetstr 30, 95440, 95440 Bayreuth, GermanyWe study the conformational transition of an ensemble of magnetic particles from a linear chain to acompact cluster when subjected to an external magnetic eld modulation. We show that the transientdynamics induced by switching the eld from static to rotating is governed by the relative friction ofadjacent particles in the chain. Solid particles show bending solitons counter-propagating along thechain while buckling of the chain is the mechanism preferred by ferro uid droplets. By combiningreal-space experiments with numerical simulations we unveil the underlying mechanism of foldingpathways in driven colloidal system.55