Effects of interparticle attractions on colloidal sedimentation

A. Moncho-Jordá*, A. A. Louis, J. T. Padding

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

43 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We use a mesoscopic simulation technique to study the effect of short-ranged interparticle attractions on the steady-state sedimentation of colloidal suspensions. Attractions increase the average sedimentation velocity vs compared to the pure hard-sphere case, and for strong enough attractions, a nonmonotonic dependence on the packing fraction φ with a maximum velocity at intermediate φ is observed. Attractions also strongly enhance hydrodynamic velocity fluctuations, which show a pronounced maximum size as a function of φ. These phenomena arise from a complex interplay between nonequilibrium hydrodynamic effects and the thermodynamics of transient cluster formation.

Original languageEnglish
Article number068301
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume104
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2010
Externally publishedYes

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