Isotropic-nematic phase transition in suspensions of filamentous virus and the neutral polymer Dextran

We present an experimental study of the isotropic-nematic phase transition in an aqueous mixture of charged semiflexible rods ( fd virus) and neutral polymer (Dextran). A complete phase diagram is measured as a function of ionic strength and polymer molecular weight. At high ionic strength we find t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics, 2004-05, Vol.69 (5 Pt 1), p.051702-051702, Article 051702
Main Authors: Dogic, Zvonimir, Purdy, Kirstin R, Grelet, Eric, Adams, Marie, Fraden, Seth
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:We present an experimental study of the isotropic-nematic phase transition in an aqueous mixture of charged semiflexible rods ( fd virus) and neutral polymer (Dextran). A complete phase diagram is measured as a function of ionic strength and polymer molecular weight. At high ionic strength we find that adding polymer widens the isotropic-nematic coexistence region with polymers preferentially partitioning into the isotropic phase, while at low ionic strength the added polymer has no effect on the phase transition. The nematic order parameter is determined from birefringence measurements and is found to be independent of polymer concentration (or equivalently the strength of attraction). The experimental results are compared with the existing theoretical predictions for the isotropic-nematic transition in rods with attractive interactions.
ISSN:1539-3755
1550-2376
DOI:10.1103/physreve.69.051702