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Updated: Feb 4, 2026

Asymmetrical Flow Field-Flow Fractionation for Sizing of Gold Nanoparticles in Suspension
Published on: September 11, 2020
Flow and fracture near the sol-gel transition of silica nanoparticle suspensions
Gustavo E Gimenes1, Elisabeth Bouchaud
1PSL Research University, Institut Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, ESPCI, UMR Gulliver, 8 rue Jean Calvin, 75005 Paris, France. gustavo.gimenes@espci.fr.
Abstract:
We analyze the evolution of the mechanical response of a colloidal suspension to an external tensile stress, from fracture to flow, as a function of the distance from the sol-gel transition. We cease to observe cracks at a finite distance from the transition. In an intermediate region where the phenomenon is clearly hysteretic, we observe the coexistence of both flow and fracture. Even when cracks are observed, the material in fact flows over a distance that increases in the vicinity of the transition.
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