Binary mixtures of hard platelets: evidence for depletion-induced phase separation

Abstract

The equation of state and phase behaviour of mixtures of different sized, uncharged clay platelets is studied using the “polymer reference interaction site model” (PRISM). Structural information provides an insight into the thermodynamics of such mixtures via the compressibility route, and compelling evidence for a depletion driven phase separation for large particle size asymmetries is obtained, when the larger particles are orientationally ordered.