Phase behaviour of colloidal superballs mixed with non-adsorbing polymers

. Inspired by experimental work on colloidal cuboid-polymer dispersions (Rossi et al. , Soft Matter, 7 , 4139 (2011)) we have theoretically studied the phase behaviour of such mixtures. To that end, free volume theory (FVT) was applied to predict the phase behaviour of mixtures of superballs and non...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The European physical journal. E, Soft matter and biological physics Soft matter and biological physics, 2018-09, Vol.41 (9), p.110-15, Article 110
Main Authors: González García, Álvaro, Opdam, Joeri, Tuinier, Remco
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and Medical Physics
Biophysics
Colloids
Complex Fluids and Microfluidics
Complex Systems
Condensed matter physics
Face centered cubic lattice
Nanotechnology
Phase diagrams
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Polymer Sciences
Polymers
Regular Article
Soft and Granular Matter
Solid phases
Surfaces and Interfaces
Thermodynamic properties
Thin Films
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Summary:. Inspired by experimental work on colloidal cuboid-polymer dispersions (Rossi et al. , Soft Matter, 7 , 4139 (2011)) we have theoretically studied the phase behaviour of such mixtures. To that end, free volume theory (FVT) was applied to predict the phase behaviour of mixtures of superballs and non-adsorbing polymer chains in a common solvent. Closed expressions for the thermodynamic properties of a suspension of hard colloidal superballs have been derived, accounting for fluid (F), face-centred cubic (FCC) and simple cubic (SC) phase states. Even though the considered solid phases are approximate, the hard superballs phase diagram semi-quantitatively matches with more evolved methods. The theory developed for the cuboid-polymer mixture reveals a rich phase behaviour, which includes not only isostructural F 1 -F 2 coexistence, but also SC 1 -SC 2 coexistence, several triple coexistences, and even a quadruple -phase coexistence region (F 1 -F 2 -SC-FCC). The model proposed offers a tool to asses the stability of cuboid-polymer mixtures in terms of the colloid-to-polymer size ratio. Graphical abstract
ISSN:1292-8941
1292-895X
DOI:10.1140/epje/i2018-11719-3