Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 21, 2026

Confocal Imaging of Confined Quiescent and Flowing Colloid-polymer Mixtures
Published on: May 20, 2014
Heterogeneous crystallization in colloids and complex plasmas: the role of binary mobilities
H Löwen1, E Allahyarov, A Ivlev
1Institut für Theoretische Physik II, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany. hlowen@thphy.uni-duesseldorf.de
Abstract:
Both charged colloidal suspensions and complex (dusty) plasmas represent classical many-body strongly coupled Coulomb systems. Here we discuss their basic properties and focus on their heterogeneous crystallization from an undercooled melt. In particular, a model with different mobilities is proposed which is realizable in binary mixtures of charged particles. Within this binary-mobility model, the crystallization behaviour near a structured wall is explored by Brownian dynamics computer simulations. As a result, the propagation velocity of the crystal-fluid interface is a nonmonotonic function of the mobility ratio (if expressed in terms of an averaged mobility).
Related Concept Videos
The Colloidal State
Colloids and Suspensions
Recrystallization: Solid–Solution Equilibria
Colloidal precipitates
Colloids
Dynamic Equilibrium

