Electrorotation of titanium microspheres

Abstract

Electrorotation (ROT) data for solid titanium micrometer-sized spheres in an electrolyte are presented for three different ionic conductivities, over the frequency range of 10 Hz to 100 kHz. The direction of rotation was found to be opposite to the direction of rotation of the electric field vector (counterfield electrorotation), with a single rotation peak. The maximum rotation rate occurs at a frequency of the order of the reciprocal RC time constant for charging the particle double layer capacitance through the resistor of the electrolyte bulk. A model for the electrical torque acting on a metallic sphere is presented, using a constant phase element impedance to describe the metal/electrolyte interface. The titanium spheres are much denser than the electrolyte and rest on the bottom substrate. Therefore, the electrical and viscous torques near a wall are considered in the analysis. Good agreement is found between the predicted and measured rotational speed as a function of frequency. Theory shows that there is no effect of induced charge electroosmotic flow on the ROT, as observed experimentally.