Controlling Compartmentalization through Active Colloidal Confinement

Active matter is an exciting area of study that displays promising new
behaviors previously unobtainable in equilibrium systems and could
help bridge the gap between equilibrium colloidal- and nanoscale-
particles and living cells. In this talk, we present new results of
novel behaviors that can be observed in confined "cells" of
rotationally-driven particles with and without active boundaries. We
observe different classes of compartmentalization, which are
controllable and can be switched over time. Our results are obtained
using microscopic, non-momentum-conserving Langevin dynamics
simulations and confirmed via a phase field continuum model coupled to
a Navier-Stokes equation that we derive to incorporate hydrodynamic
effects. Our findings provide motivation and design rules for the
fabrication of primitive colloidal machines.