General Description: The project aims to study the assembly of Metallodielectric Janus Particles under an AC field, its interaction with a polymerizing medium and the resulting mechanical properties and microstructure of the material created.

Relevance: This work develops predictive simulation methods for dielectrophoresis (DEP), induced-charge electroosmosis (ICEO), and related electrokinetic effects in anisotropic particles under AC fields, culminating in a consistent N-body model of field-driven self-assembly. It also uses this framework to quantify the mechanical properties of particle–polymer composites, with emphasis on blends in polymerizable 3D-printing resins.

What will be done:

• Formulate a multipolar expansion for hemispherically-coated dielectric spheres (anisotropic, ‖/⊥).

• Solve the N-body, self-consistent coupling of these multipoles under an AC field to obtain forces and torques for these particles.

• Compute forces and torques from the multipolar fields (instantaneous and cycle-averaged) and advance particle motions to capture self-assembly.

• Sweep key parameters (frequency, ionic strength, material contrasts) to map regimes and validate against benchmark behaviors established in the literature.

• Upscale assembled structures to estimate bulk mechanical response in polymerizable 3D-printing resins.