Active wetting transitions induced by rotational noise at solid interfaces

Abstract

We investigate the wetting transitions displayed by the collection of active Brownian particles confined within rigid, impenetrable, flat walls. In our computational study using Brownian dynamics simulations, the wall–particle interactions are implemented with a short-range repulsive potential. Our analyses reveal that an enhanced rotational diffusion at the walls can be used as a control parameter for wetting transitions in the dense aggregates of active particles at the wall. Increasing the wall rotational diffusion destabilizes a uniform, complete wetting state, and the aggregate shows morphological transitions. We observe a sequence of morphological transitions with an increase in wall rotational diffusion: symmetric complete wetting, asymmetric complete wetting, partial wetting with droplet formation, and drying. We compute the contact angle in the PW state as a function of activity and rotational noise. Our analysis indicates that these transitions are linked to enhanced kinetic energy fluctuations of particles and bubble formations in the dense state. We further characterize the nature of these transitions by systematically analyzing an order parameter. Our work shows that modifying local reorientation rates alone is sufficient to induce wetting transitions in active systems.