Chemically-active droplets have become a canonical example of active colloids that can self-propel in microfluidic systems, yet they remain fascinatingly simple: in their most popular realizations, these are merely oil droplets immersed in an aqueous solution saturated in surfactants. Yet, this provides them with the ability to spontaneously solubilise and self-propel as a result of the non-linear transport of surfactant molecules and micellar compounds by the interfacial flows induced at their surface by gradients of such species. Many recent experiments have reported the intriguing individual behaviour of these droplets and the onset of propulsion is now relatively well understood conceptually and modelled. Yet, almost all modeling considerations of such fascinating systems focus exclusively on the case of an isolated self-propelled droplet in an unbounded and quiescent fluid. In this presentation, I will review some of our recent work on the interactions of these model swimmers with confining boundaries, lifting the veil on the complex hydro-chemical interactions of these droplets with their surrounding environment.
Accès Salle des séminaires FAST-LPTMS (Bât. 530, salle C.120, 1er)