Fig. 3. Experimental and Brownian dynamics simulation of light-induced binary mixture phase segregation.

a, Experimental evolution of active particle (SQ2 sensitized TiO₂ colloid) and passive particle (LEG4 sensitized TiO₂ colloid) under various red light illumination levels (640–660 nm and 10, 30, 50 and 90 mW cm⁻²). Scale bar, 10 μm. b, The Brownian dynamic simulation result of active (red) and passive (blue) particle binary mixture evolution under apparent pair potential fitted from experimental result. Scale bar, 20 μm. c, Experimental results of cluster size evolution of the binary colloidal system show increasing exponents with higher illumination intensity. d, The gas fraction of the binary mixture decreases over time under different light illumination conditions, showing the growth and coarsening stage of the phase evolution.

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