Colloids in complex fluids

When particles, droplets or bubbles are dispersed in complex nematic fluids, they are not affected only by more commonly known colloidal interactions, such as steric, Coulomb and van der Waals but also by elastic interactions that originate from the distortions of the orientation order of the nematic fluids -- typically the nematic elasticity. Charged colloids in contact with liquids containing ions are in equilibrium accompanied by double layers, consisting of surface charge and diffuse ion cloud in the fluid, which again determine intraparticle interactions. We study the effects of surface properties, shape, size and topology of particles, as well as external confinment, geometry and external fields with the aim to develop tunable, controllable, and possibly self-assembled, materials for use in metamaterials, photonics and as energy storage devices.