Aggregation of self-propelled colloidal rods near confining walls

Abstract

Non-equilibrium collective behavior of self-propelled colloidal rods in a confining channel is studied using Brownian dynamics simulations and dynamical density functional theory. We observe an aggregation process in which rods self-organize into transiently jammed clusters at the channel walls. In the early stage of the process, fast-growing hedgehog-like clusters are formed which are largely immobile. At later stages, most of these clusters dissolve and mobilize into nematized aggregates sliding past the walls.