Microstructure and dynamics near an attractive colloidal glass transition

D. Pontoni (1) , T. Narayanan (1) , J.-M. Petit (1) , G. Grübel (1) , Daniel Beysens (2, 3, 4)

1 ESRF - European Synchrotron Radiation Facility
2 SBT - Service des Basses Températures
3 ICMCB - Institut de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Bordeaux
4 ESEME : Équipe du Supercritique pour l'Environnement, les Matériaux et l'Espace : Équipe commune CEA-CNRS (2000-2014)

The microstructure and dynamics of a colloidal system interacting via short-ranged interparticle potential is studied by ultra-small-angle x-ray scattering and x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy. A colloidal gas-liq. type transition is induced when the short-ranged attractive interactions attain sufficient magnitude. The development of liq.-like structure is preceded by a systematic transition in the particle dynamics from diffusive to constrained motion and then completely frozen behavior. This demonstrates the existence of a jamming transition induced by strong short-ranged attractive interactions even at low packing fractions.

Mots clés: Aggregation; Autocorrelation function; Colloids; Diffusion; Glass transition; Microstructure; Sols; Structure factor; Potential energy; Heavy water; Silica; numbers: 8270Dd; 6110Eq; 6470Pf

Domaines: Matériaux

D. Pontoni, T. Narayanan, J.-M. Petit, G. Grübel, Daniel Beysens. Microstructure and dynamics near an attractive colloidal glass transition. Physical Review Letters, 2003, 90 (18), 188301 (4 p.). ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.188301⟩. ⟨hal-00242322⟩