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Updated: Mar 12, 2026

Confocal Imaging of Confined Quiescent and Flowing Colloid-polymer Mixtures
Published on: May 20, 2014
Phase diagram of binary colloidal rod-sphere mixtures from a 3D real-space analysis of sedimentation-diffusion
Henriëtte E Bakker1, Simone Dussi1, Barbera L Droste1
1Soft Condensed Matter, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, Princetonplein 5, 3584 CC Utrecht, The Netherlands. henriette.bakker@gmail.com a.vanblaaderen@uu.nl.
Abstract:
Self-assembly of binary particle systems offers many new opportunities for materials science. Here, we studied sedimentation equilibria of silica rods and spheres, using quantitative 3D confocal microscopy. We determined not only pressure, density and order parameter profiles, but also the experimental phase diagram exhibiting a stable binary smectic liquid-crystalline phase (Sm2). Using computer simulations we confirmed that the Sm2-phase can be stabilized by entropy alone, which opens up the possibility of combining new materials properties at a wide array of length scales.
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