Eur. Phys. J. Special Topics 225, 699-706 (2016)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2016-60090-2

Regular Article

Electro-hydrodynamic propulsion of counter-rotating Pickering drops^*

Department of Physics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

^a e-mail: paul.dommersnes@ntnu.no

Received: 21 March 2016
Revised: 25 May 2016
Published online: 15 July 2016

Abstract

Insulating particles or drops suspended in carrier liquids may start to rotate with a constant frequency when subjected to a uniform DC electric field. This is known as the Quincke rotation electro-hydrodynamic instability. A single isolated rotating particle exhibit no translational motion at low Reynolds number, however interacting rotating particles may move relative to one another. Here we present a simple system consisting of two interacting and deformable Quincke rotating particle covered drops, i.e. deformable Pickering drops. The drops attract one another and spontaneously form a counter-rotating pair that exhibits electro-hydrodynamic driven propulsion at low Reynolds number flow.