A structural comparison of models of colloid-polymer mixtures

Abstract

We study the structure of colloidal fluids with reference to colloid-polymer mixtures. We compare the one component description of the Asakura-Oosawa (AO) idealisation of colloid-polymer mixtures with the full two-component model. We also consider the Morse potential, a variable range interaction, for which the ground state clusters are known. Mapping the state points between these systems, we find that the pair structure of the full AO model is equally well described by the Morse potential or the one component AO approach. We employ a recently developed method to identify in the bulk fluid the ground state clusters relevant to the Morse potential. Surprisingly, when we measure the cluster populations, we find that the Morse fluid is significantly closer the full AO fluid than the one component AO description.

13 pages, accepted by J. Phys. Condens: Matter special issue for CECAM meeting 'New Trends in Simulating Colloids: from Models to Applications'

References in corpus (7)

• Beware of density dependent pair potentials
• The fluid-fluid interface in a model colloid-polymer mixture: Application of grand canonical Monte Carlo to asymmetric binary mixtures
• Crystallization and gelation in colloidal systems with short-ranged attractive interactions
• Local structure and dynamics in colloidal fluids and gels
• Critical behavior in colloid-polymer mixtures: theory and simulation
• Effect of excluded volume interactions on the interfacial properties of colloid-polymer mixtures
• Simulation and theory of fluid demixing and interfacial tension of mixtures of colloids and non-ideal polymers

Cited by in corpus (11)

• Identification of structure in condensed matter with the topological cluster classification
• Probing colloidal gels at multiple lengthscales: the role of hydrodynamics
• Real Space Analysis of Colloidal Gels: Triumphs, Challenges and Future Directions
• The effect of attractions on the local structure of liquids and colloidal fluids
• Monte Carlo computer simulations and electron microscopy of colloidal cluster formation via emulsion droplet evaporation
• Local structure of percolating gels at very low volume fractions
• Active Brownian Particles in Random and Porous Environments
• The effect of inter-cluster interactions on the structure of colloidal clusters
• Local structure of Liquid-Vapour Interfaces
• Composition inversion in mixtures of binary colloids and polymer
• Self-assembly of complex structures in colloid-polymer mixtures