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Anomalous dynamics of binary colloidal mixtures over a potential barrier: effect of depletion interaction
1School of Physical Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research, IOP Campus, Bhubaneswar 751005, India.
Abstract:
The dynamics of a binary colloidal mixture under the influence of an external potential barrier has been studied by molecular dynamics simulations. The attractive depletion interaction between the barrier and larger particles fastens the dynamics of the larger particles over the potential barrier. At low temperatures, depletion interactions cause the larger particles to diffuse faster than smaller particles, which is counterintuitive. The repulsive barrier leads the small particles to undergo an anomalous diffusion which resembles the dynamics of systems undergoing a glass transition, while the larger particles undergo normal diffusion even at very low temperature.
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