Polyhedral colloidal 'rocks': low-dimensional networks

Condensed Matter journal club

Polyhedral colloidal 'rocks': low-dimensional networks

Event details

Abstract

We introduce a model system of anisotropic colloidal 'rocks'. Due to their shape, the bonding introduced via non-absorbing polymers is profoundly different from spherical particles: bonds between rocks are rigid against rotation, leading to strong frustration. We develop a geometric model which captures the essence of the rocks. Experiments and simulations show that the colloid geometry leads to structures of low fractal dimension. This is in stark contrast to gels of spheres, whose rigidity results from locally dense regions. At high density the rocks form a quasi one-component glass
Soft Matter 8 Pages 1163-1167 (2012)
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Author

Rice Rebecca; Roth Roland; Royall C. Patrick

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