Abstract
Using time-resolved small angle neutron scattering, we have measured the wave-number-dependent structure factor of monodisperse nanoemulsions that aggregate and gel after we suddenly turn on a strong, short-range, slippery attraction between the droplets. At high , peaks in appear as dense clusters of droplets form, and increases strongly toward low , as these dense clusters become locked into a rigid gel network, despite the fluidity of the films between the droplets. The long-time high- structure of nanoemulsion gels formed by slippery diffusion-limited cluster aggregation is universal in shape and remarkably independent of the droplet volume fraction, .
- Received 29 April 2005
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.015501
©2006 American Physical Society