Heterogeneity of colloidal particle networks analyzed by means of Minkowski functionals

The heterogeneity and large scale connectivity of colloidal particle networks, which are generated by Brownian dynamics simulations, is examined. This is achieved by employing integral geometric measures in the form of the Minkowski functionals or quermassintegrals. It is found that these measures in conjunction with the parallel-body technique amount to a powerful tool to characterize the structure, going beyond the information contained in the pair-correlation function. The development of heterogeneities during network formation as well as their dependence on the volume fraction and the interaction potential is studied. In particular, it is found that slow coagulation enhances the heterogeneity of the network compared to fast coagulation.