Coagulation rates in concentrated colloidal suspensions studied by Brownian dynamics simulation

Characteristic coagulation time scales in colloidal suspensions are identified by using the Brownian dynamics simulation technique. Their dependences on the solid content and on the potential interaction parameters are measured. Each of these dependences can be captured by simple formulas to reasonable accuracy. Although not all of the values for the fitted parameters meet the model expectations, a better understanding of the coagulation mechanism is gained. In particular, we deduce different cluster–cluster bonding mechanisms in the presence of an energy barrier and its absence due to the different behavior of short and long time scales on variation of the solid content and of the surface potential.