Issue 4, 2012

Polyhedral colloidal ‘rocks’: low-dimensional networks

Abstract

We introduce a model system of anisotropic colloidal ‘rocks’. Due to their shape, the bonding introduced via non-absorbing polymers is profoundly different from spherical particles: bonds between rocks are rigid against rotation, leading to strong frustration. We develop a geometric model which captures the essence of the rocks. Experiments and simulations show that the colloid geometry leads to structures of low fractal dimension. This is in stark contrast to gels of spheres, whose rigidity results from locally dense regions. At high density the rocks form a quasi one-component glass.

Graphical abstract: Polyhedral colloidal ‘rocks’: low-dimensional networks

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
02 Sep 2011
Accepted
09 Nov 2011
First published
28 Nov 2011

Soft Matter, 2012,8, 1163-1167

Polyhedral colloidal ‘rocks’: low-dimensional networks

R. Rice, R. Roth and C. P. Royall, Soft Matter, 2012, 8, 1163 DOI: 10.1039/C1SM06663C

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