Brownian Dynamics Simulations of Colloidal Sheets in Shear Flow

As 2D materials such as graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides, and 2D polymers become more prevalent, solution processing and colloidal-state properties are being exploited to create advanced and functional materials. However, our understanding of the fundamental behavior of 2D colloidal sheets and membranes in flow is still lacking. In this work, we perform Brownian dynamics simulations of semiflexible colloidal sheets with hydrodynamic interactions in shear flow. Different conformational behaviors, ranging from seemingly chaotic towel-wringing to periodic tumbling are observed as bending energy, stretching energy, and shear flow strength are varied. Parallels and differences with semiflexible polymer chains will be discussed.