Polarizabilities and electric field-induced forces in periodic two- component linear dielectric sphere chains

Idealized single-stranded linear chains of dielectric spheres in a dielectric medium can be used as a model system for electric field-induced particle chaining in complex systems, such as electrorheological fluids. The polarizability of the spheres in the chains and the interparticle (bonding) forces between them deter-mine the macroscopic (e.g. dielectric, rheological) behavior of the bulk. We have derived new analytical equations for the bonding forces in a linear, bidisperse chain, where two components with different sizes form a periodic structure. The force equations were obtained on the basis of local field strength at the particle sites by taking into account the interactions beyond the nearest neighbors within the chain. The dependence of the bonding force and the local field strength on the ratio of particle sizes was inves-tigated. As an application the dielectric permittivity of a bulk model system with bidisperse chains was calculated using the Clausius-Mossotti equation.& COPY; 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).