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Probing the dynamics of turbid colloidal suspensions using differential dynamic microscopy
Reece Nixon-Luke1, Jochen Arlt2, Wilson C K Poon2
1School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia. gary.bryant@rmit.edu.au.
Soft Matter
|February 16, 2022
Summary
Differential Dynamic Microscopy (DDM) reliably measures particle dynamics in turbid colloidal suspensions. This technique surpasses traditional methods in high-concentration and high-turbidity environments, offering accurate particle size estimation.
Area of Science:
- Soft matter physics
- Colloidal science
- Optical microscopy
Background:
- Measuring dynamics in turbid soft materials is challenging.
- Existing techniques like Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) have limitations with turbidity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate Differential Dynamic Microscopy (DDM) for characterizing particle dynamics in turbid colloidal suspensions.
- To compare DDM performance against DLS and Two-colour DLS (TCDLS).
Main Methods:
- Brightfield optical microscopy with DDM.
- Measurement of Intermediate Scattering Function (ISF) for polystyrene microspheres.
- Comparison with DLS and TCDLS data across various concentrations and turbidities.
Main Results:
- DDM provides reliable diffusion coefficients at significantly higher particle concentrations than TCDLS and DLS.
- Identified a short-time process linked to multiple scattering and a long-time process for particle dynamics.
- Developed a multiple scattering DDM (ms-DDM) framework for turbid samples.
Conclusions:
- DDM is a robust technique for studying dynamics in highly turbid colloidal suspensions.
- The ms-DDM framework accurately accounts for multiple scattering effects.
- DDM enables accurate particle-size estimation even in challenging, turbid conditions.
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