Related papers: Induced phase transformation in ionizable colloida…
Inverse patchy colloids are nano- to micro-scale particles with a surface divided into differently charged regions. This class of colloids combines directional, selective bonding with a relatively simple particle design: owing to the…
We show that the interaction of an oil-dispersed colloidal particle with an oil-water interface is highly tunable from attractive to repulsive, either by varying the sign of the colloidal charge via charge regulation, or by varying the…
Field-induced assembly of colloidal particles into structures of desired configurations is extremely relevant from the viewpoint of producing field-assembled micro-swimmers and reconfigurable smart materials. However, the behaviour of…
We study the mobility of a charged colloidal particle in a constant homogeneous electric field by means of computer simulations. The simulation method combines a lattice Boltzmann scheme for the fluid with standard Langevin dynamics for the…
The crystallization of hard spheres at equilibrium is perhaps the most familiar example of an entropically-driven phase transition. In recent years, it has become clear that activity can dramatically alter this order-disorder transition in…
The effective interaction between charged colloidal particles confined between two planar like-charged walls is investigated using computer simulations of the primitive model describing asymmetric electrolytes. In detail, we calculate the…
We develop a thermodynamic description of particles held at a fixed surface potential. This system is of particular interest in view of the continuing controversy over the possibility of a fluid-fluid phase separation in aqueous colloidal…
Plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) integrated within thermoresponsive polymeric microgels provide a versatile platform for the realization of stimuli-responsive optical materials, where the microgel volume phase transition enables dynamic…
Ionic Coulomb blockade in nanopores is a phenomenon that shares some similarities but also differences with its electronic counterpart. Here, we investigate extensively this phenomenon using all-atom molecular dynamics of ionic transport…
Mixed-order phase transitions display a discontinuity in the order parameter like first-order transitions yet feature critical behavior like second-order transitions. Such transitions have been predicted for a broad range of equilibrium and…
We investigate the modification of gas phase ion polarizabilities upon solvation in polar solvents and ionic liquids. To this aim, we develop a classical electrostatic theory of charged liquids composed of solvent molecules modeled as…
A theory is presented which allow us to accurately calculate the critical coagulation concentration (CCC) of hydrophobic colloidal suspensions. For positively charged particles the CCC's follow the Hofmeister (lyotropic) series. For…
The coil-globule transition of hetero-polymer chains is studied here. By means of extensive Molecular Dynamics simulations, we show that the transition is directly linked to the complexity of the chain, which depends on the number of…
We study the formation of bands of colloidal particles driven by periodic external fields. Using Brownian dynamics, we determine the dependence of the band width on the strength of the particle interactions and on the intensity and…
Dense suspensions of small strongly interacting particles are complex systems, which are rarely understood on the microscopic level. We investigate properties of dense suspensions and sediments of small spherical Al_2O_3 particles in a…
When an ionic liquid adsorbs onto a porous electrode, its ionic arrangement is deeply modified due to a screening of the Coulombic interactions by the metallic surface and by the confinement imposed upon it by the electrode's morphology. In…
Monolayers of colloidal particles at oil-water interfaces readily crystalize owing to electrostatic repulsion, which is often mediated through the oil. However, little attempts exist to control it using oil-soluble electrolytes. We probe…
We study the influence of airborne CO2 on the charge state of carboxylate stabilized polymer latex particles suspended in aqueous electrolytes. We combine conductometric experiments interpreted in terms of Hessinger's conductivity model…
The phase behavior of colloidal particles embedded in a binary fluid is influenced by wetting layers surrounding each particle. The free energy of the fluid film depends on its morphology, i.e., on size, shape and connectivity. Under rather…
Recent theories predict that when a supercooled liquid approaches the glass transition, particle clusters with a special "amorphous order" nucleate within the liquid, which lead to static correlations dictating the dramatic slowdown of…