Probing the critical behavior of colloidal interfaces by gravity

We present a study of the interface between fluid-fluid phase separated colloid-polymer mixtures of identical composition but with varying suspension height. The significance of the sedimentation gradient present in the suspension is controlled by the ratio between the suspension height and the grav...

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Auteurs principaux: Jamie, E, Wensink, H, Aarts, D
Format: Journal article
Langue:English
Publié: 2010
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author Jamie, E
Wensink, H
Aarts, D
author_facet Jamie, E
Wensink, H
Aarts, D
author_sort Jamie, E
collection OXFORD
description We present a study of the interface between fluid-fluid phase separated colloid-polymer mixtures of identical composition but with varying suspension height. The significance of the sedimentation gradient present in the suspension is controlled by the ratio between the suspension height and the gravitational length of the colloids. We demonstrate that increasing the suspension height, and thus the importance of gravity leads to a systematic roughening of the gas-liquid interface as if one approaches the critical point. By carefully tuning the system height, the suspension can be brought arbitrarily close to criticality, irrespective of the overall composition of colloid and polymer. Our findings are based on measurements of the interfacial tension and capillary wave properties and supported by predictions from a simple density functional theory. © 2011 The Royal Society of Chemistry.
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spelling oxford-uuid:80809d12-ef49-4e7e-9735-13ae54b03a142022-03-26T21:23:48ZProbing the critical behavior of colloidal interfaces by gravityJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:80809d12-ef49-4e7e-9735-13ae54b03a14EnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2010Jamie, EWensink, HAarts, DWe present a study of the interface between fluid-fluid phase separated colloid-polymer mixtures of identical composition but with varying suspension height. The significance of the sedimentation gradient present in the suspension is controlled by the ratio between the suspension height and the gravitational length of the colloids. We demonstrate that increasing the suspension height, and thus the importance of gravity leads to a systematic roughening of the gas-liquid interface as if one approaches the critical point. By carefully tuning the system height, the suspension can be brought arbitrarily close to criticality, irrespective of the overall composition of colloid and polymer. Our findings are based on measurements of the interfacial tension and capillary wave properties and supported by predictions from a simple density functional theory. © 2011 The Royal Society of Chemistry.
spellingShingle Jamie, E
Wensink, H
Aarts, D
Probing the critical behavior of colloidal interfaces by gravity
title Probing the critical behavior of colloidal interfaces by gravity
title_full Probing the critical behavior of colloidal interfaces by gravity
title_fullStr Probing the critical behavior of colloidal interfaces by gravity
title_full_unstemmed Probing the critical behavior of colloidal interfaces by gravity
title_short Probing the critical behavior of colloidal interfaces by gravity
title_sort probing the critical behavior of colloidal interfaces by gravity
work_keys_str_mv AT jamiee probingthecriticalbehaviorofcolloidalinterfacesbygravity
AT wensinkh probingthecriticalbehaviorofcolloidalinterfacesbygravity
AT aartsd probingthecriticalbehaviorofcolloidalinterfacesbygravity