Abstract
We use a mesoscopic simulation technique to study the effect of short-ranged interparticle attractions on the steady-state sedimentation of colloidal suspensions. Attractions increase the average sedimentation velocity vs compared to the pure hard-sphere case, and for strong enough attractions, a nonmonotonic dependence on the packing fraction f with a maximum velocity at intermediate f is observed. Attractions also strongly enhance hydrodynamic velocity fluctuations, which show a pronounced maximum size as a function of f. These phenomena arise from a complex interplay between nonequilibrium hydrodynamic effects and the thermodynamics of transient cluster formation. © 2010 The American Physical Society.
| Original language | English |
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| Article number | 068301 |
| Pages (from-to) | 068301-1/4 |
| Journal | Physical Review Letters |
| Volume | 104 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2010 |