Field induced reorientation in suspensions of anisotropic particles

The field induced reorientation of microellipsoids in suspension depends on particle parameters, e.g. intrinsic dielectric anisotropy, shape and size, as well as on the concentration of the particles. We study this process and the resulting orientational order parameter of suspensions in fields of arbitrary strength. The approach presented here provides an explicit link between particle properties and their orientation distribution, taking into account the electrostatic interaction at moderate concentrations. It reproduces published experimental observations in the steady state and should be useful for studying reorientation phenomena and electro-optical properties in these systems.