title: Thermodynamic model of electric-field-induced pattern formation in binary dielectric fluids.
abstract: An electric-field-induced phase transition and pattern formation in a binary dielectric fluid layer are studied using a coarse-grained free-energy functional. The electrostatic part of the free energy is a nonlinear functional of the dielectric function, which depends in turn on the local colloidal concentration. We determine the phase coexistence curve and find that beyond a critical electric field the system phase separates. Accompanying the phase separation are patterns similar to those observed in a spinodal decomposition of an ordinary binary fluid. The temporal evolution of the phase separating patterns are discussed both analytically and numerically by integrating a Cahn-Hilliard type of equation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816-2385, USA. mjohnson@ucf.edu
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.forename: Brett
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Riley
authors.forename: Aniket
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bhattacharya
authors.forename: Weili
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Luo