Effects of interparticle attractions on colloidal sedimentation.

We use a mesoscopic simulation technique to study the effect of short-ranged interparticle attractions on the steady-state sedimentation of colloidal suspensions. Attractions increase the average sedimentation velocity v(s) compared to the pure hard-sphere case, and for strong enough attractions, a...

Повний опис

Бібліографічні деталі
Автори: Moncho-Jordá, A, Louis, A, Padding, J
Формат: Journal article
Мова:English
Опубліковано: 2010
Опис
Резюме:We use a mesoscopic simulation technique to study the effect of short-ranged interparticle attractions on the steady-state sedimentation of colloidal suspensions. Attractions increase the average sedimentation velocity v(s) compared to the pure hard-sphere case, and for strong enough attractions, a nonmonotonic dependence on the packing fraction phi with a maximum velocity at intermediate phi is observed. Attractions also strongly enhance hydrodynamic velocity fluctuations, which show a pronounced maximum size as a function of phi. These phenomena arise from a complex interplay between nonequilibrium hydrodynamic effects and the thermodynamics of transient cluster formation.