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Title: Percolation, phase separation, and gelation in fluids and mixtures of spheres and rods

Journal Article · · Journal of Chemical Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3669649· OSTI ID:1876029
 [1];  [1]
  1. Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, IL (United States)

The relationship between kinetic arrest, connectivity percolation, structure and phase separation in protein, nanoparticle, and colloidal suspensions is a rich and complex problem. Using a combination of integral equation theory, connectivity percolation methods, naïve mode coupling theory, and the activated dynamics nonlinear Langevin equation approach, we study this problem for isotropic one-component fluids of spheres and variable aspect ratio rigid rods, and also percolation in rod-sphere mixtures. The key control parameters are interparticle attraction strength and its (short) spatial range, total packing fraction, and mixture composition. For spherical particles, formation of a homogeneous one-phase kinetically stable and percolated physical gel is predicted to be possible, but depends on non-universal factors. On the other hand, the dynamic crossover to activated dynamics and physical bond formation, which signals discrete cluster formation below the percolation threshold, almost always occurs in the one phase region. Rods more easily gel in the homogeneous isotropic regime, but whether a percolation or kinetic arrest boundary is reached first upon increasing interparticle attraction depends sensitively on packing fraction, rod aspect ratio and attraction range. Overall, the connectivity percolation threshold is much more sensitive to attraction range than either the kinetic arrest or phase separation boundaries. Furthermore, our results appear to be qualitatively consistent with recent experiments on polymer-colloid depletion systems and brush mediated attractive nanoparticle suspensions.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
FG02-07ER46471
OSTI ID:
1876029
Journal Information:
Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 135, Issue 23; ISSN 0021-9606
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (4)

Monte Carlo simulation of cylinders with short-range attractions journal September 2018
Dynamic arrest of adhesive hard rod dispersions journal January 2020
Microscopic theory of the influence of strong attractive forces on the activated dynamics of dense glass and gel forming fluids journal December 2019
Microdynamics and arrest of coarsening during spinodal decomposition in thermoreversible colloidal gels journal January 2015