Measuring a Colloidal Particle's Interaction With a Flat Surface Under Nonequilibrium Conditions

Sven H. Behrens¹, Joseph Plewa and David G. Grier
Dept. of Physics, James Franck Institute, and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics
The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637

January 10, 2003

Abstract:

A new and general approach is proposed to analyze the dynamics of a colloidal particle interacting with a nearby wall. This analysis can be used to determine the acting forces even when the system is non-stationary. As an illustration, we use total internal reflection microscopy to investigate the forces acting on a polystyrene sulfate latex particle as it is receding from a charged glass surface.