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Confocal Imaging of Confined Quiescent and Flowing Colloid-polymer Mixtures
Published on: May 20, 2014
Electric-field-induced phase separation and homogenization dynamics in colloidal suspensions of dichroic rod-shaped
Kathrin May1, Ralf Stannarius, Susanne Klein
1Otto von Guericke University , Institute for Experimental Physics, Department for Nonlinear Phenomena, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany.
Abstract:
We report a reversible phase separation phenomenon in nonpolar colloidal suspensions of rod-shaped dichroic pigment particles in an electric field. The voltage-frequency phase diagram features a variety of phases with different morphologies. Single static particle-rich islands, chains of islands, and dynamic patterns were found in this system. We demonstrate that those patterns exhibit complex relaxation dynamics toward the homogeneous field-free state once the external field is removed.
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