Dynamical Arrest in Attractive Colloids: The Effect of Long-Range Repulsion

Andrew I. Campbell, Valerie J. Anderson, Jeroen S. van Duijneveldt, and Paul Bartlett
Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 208301 – Published 23 May 2005

Abstract

We study gelation in suspensions of model colloidal particles with short-ranged attractive and long-ranged repulsive interactions by means of three-dimensional fluorescence confocal microscopy. At low packing fractions, particles form stable equilibrium clusters. Upon increasing the packing fraction the clusters grow in size and become increasingly anisotropic until finally associating into a fully connected network at gelation. We find a surprising order in the gel structure. Analysis of spatial and orientational correlations reveals that the gel is composed of dense chains of particles constructed from face-sharing tetrahedral clusters. Our findings imply that dynamical arrest occurs via cluster growth and association.

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  • Received 6 December 2004

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.208301

©2005 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Andrew I. Campbell, Valerie J. Anderson, Jeroen S. van Duijneveldt, and Paul Bartlett

  • School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TS, United Kingdom

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Issue

Vol. 94, Iss. 20 — 27 May 2005

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