Colloidal systems with competing interactions: from an arrested repulsive cluster phase to a gel
Soft Condensed Matter
2009-03-18 v1
Abstract
We report an extensive numerical study of a charged colloidal system with competing short-range depletion attraction and long-range electrostatic repulsion. By analizing the cluster properties, we identify two distinct regions in the phase diagram: a state composed of stable finite-size clusters, whose relative interactions are dominated by long-range repulsion, and a percolating network. Both states are found to dynamically arrest at low temperatures, providing evidence of the existence of two distinct non-ergodic states in these systems: a Wigner glass of clusters and a gel.
Cite
@article{arxiv.0903.2929,
title = {Colloidal systems with competing interactions: from an arrested repulsive cluster phase to a gel},
author = {Juan Carlos Fernandez Toledano and Francesco Sciortino and Emanuela Zaccarelli},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0903.2929},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
10 figures, to be published in Soft Matter