Issue 47, 2013

Empty liquid state and self-assembly of high valence non-spherical colloidal systems

Abstract

A vapour–liquid phase coexistence with vanishing critical volume fraction (empty liquid) is predicted in some model systems of attractive hard ellipsoids. The trends in critical density and temperature do not depend on the ellipsoid shape and the range of the square-well attraction. Our theoretical and simulation studies show transparently that the empty liquid limit is due to the competition between the anisotropic attractive and repulsive interactions. Additionally, the nematic phase is destabilized by the square-well attraction for both prolate and oblate shapes. The demand to maximize the number of bonds while keeping a relatively low excluded volume leads to special structures such as the cubatic and star-shaped cluster phases at low temperatures. The liquid branch of the vapour–liquid binodal is always isotropic for oblates, while it can be isotropic or cluster-like for prolates. Our results predict the occurrence of an empty liquid state in high valence anisotropic colloidal systems.

Graphical abstract: Empty liquid state and self-assembly of high valence non-spherical colloidal systems

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
29 Jul 2013
Accepted
30 Sep 2013
First published
15 Oct 2013

Soft Matter, 2013,9, 11178-11182

Empty liquid state and self-assembly of high valence non-spherical colloidal systems

S. Varga, E. Meneses-Juárez and G. Odriozola, Soft Matter, 2013, 9, 11178 DOI: 10.1039/C3SM52049H

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements