Issue 12, 2009

Colloidal systems with competing interactions: from an arrested repulsive cluster phase to a gel

Abstract

We report an extensive numerical study of a charged colloidal system with competing short-range depletion attraction and long-range electrostatic repulsion. By analyzing 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.

Graphical abstract: Colloidal systems with competing interactions: from an arrested repulsive cluster phase to a gel

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
15 Oct 2008
Accepted
02 Dec 2008
First published
11 Feb 2009

Soft Matter, 2009,5, 2390-2398

Colloidal systems with competing interactions: from an arrested repulsive cluster phase to a gel

J. C. F. Toledano, F. Sciortino and E. Zaccarelli, Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 2390 DOI: 10.1039/B818169A

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