Reentrant Network Formation in Patchy Colloidal Mixtures under Gravity

Abstract

We study a two-dimensional binary mixture of patchy colloids in sedimentation-diffusion-equilibrium using Monte Carlo simulation and Wertheim's theory. By tuning the buoyant masses of the colloids we can control the gravity-induced sequence of fluid stacks of differing density and percolation properties. We find complex stacking sequences with up to four layers and reentrant network formation, consistently in simulations and theoretically using only the bulk phase diagram as input. Our theory applies to general patchy colloidal mixtures and is relevant to understanding experiments under gravity.

5 pages, 3 figures

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• Sedimentation stacking diagrams of binary mixtures of thick and thin hard rods
• Statistical analysis of phase formation in 2D colloidal systems
• Depinning and heterogeneous dynamics of colloidal crystal layers under shear flow
• Sedimentation path theory for mass-polydisperse colloidal systems