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Nonequilibrium continuous phase transition in colloidal gelation with short-range attraction.
Joep Rouwhorst1, Christopher Ness2,3, Simeon Stoyanov4
1Institute of Physics, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, Amsterdam, 1098 XH, The Netherlands.
Nature Communications
|July 18, 2020
Summary
Dynamical arrest of attractive colloidal particles into gels is a nonequilibrium percolation process. This study reveals universal scaling laws and power-law distributions, unifying structural arrest and yielding phenomena.
Area of Science:
- Colloidal science
- Soft matter physics
- Materials science
Background:
- Gelation of attractive colloidal particles is crucial in various applications but not fully understood.
- The structure formation process at intermediate densities and attractions remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To elucidate the mechanism governing the gelation of short-range attractive particles.
- To investigate the nonequilibrium phase transition during gelation.
Main Methods:
- Experiments using critical Casimir colloidal suspensions.
- Numerical simulations of particle interactions.
- Analytical modeling with a master kinetic equation.
Main Results:
- Gelation follows a nonequilibrium percolation process.
- Cluster sizes and correlation lengths exhibit universal exponents (~1.6 and 0.8).
- Cluster masses show power-law distributions (-3/2 and -5/2) before and after percolation.
Conclusions:
- The study reveals a nonequilibrium continuous phase transition in colloidal gelation.
- Findings unify structural arrest and yielding into a single framework.
- The results provide a deeper understanding of gelation dynamics in colloidal systems.
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