Glasslike arrest in spinodal decomposition as a route to colloidal gelation

S. Manley, H.M. Wyss, K. Miyazaki, J.C. Conrad, V. Trappe, L.J. Kaufman, D.R. Reichman, D.A. Weitz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

171 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

Colloid-polymer mixtures can undergo spinodal decomposition into colloid-rich and colloid-poorregions. Gelation results when interconnected colloid-rich regions solidify. We show that this occurs when these regions undergo a glass transition, leading to dynamic arrest of the spinodal decomposition.The characteristic length scale of the gel decreases with increasing quench depth, and the nonergodicity parameter exhibits a pronounced dependence on scattering vector. Mode coupling theory gives a good description of the dynamics, provided we use the full static structure as input.
Original languageEnglish
Article number238302
Pages (from-to)238302
Number of pages4
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume95
Issue number23
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2005
Externally publishedYes

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