Issue 1, 2019

Hydrodynamics strongly affect the dynamics of colloidal gelation but not gel structure

Abstract

Colloidal particles with strong, short-ranged attractions can form a gel. We simulate this process without and with hydrodynamic interactions (HI), using the lattice-Boltzmann method to account for presence of a thermalized solvent. We show that HI speed up and slow down gelation at low and high volume fractions, respectively. The transition between these two regimes is linked to the existence of a percolating cluster shortly after quenching the system. However, when we compare gels at matched ‘structural age’, we find nearly indistinguishable structures with and without HI. Our result explains longstanding, unresolved conflicts in the literature.

Graphical abstract: Hydrodynamics strongly affect the dynamics of colloidal gelation but not gel structure

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
06 Aug 2018
Accepted
23 Nov 2018
First published
27 Nov 2018

Soft Matter, 2019,15, 10-16

Hydrodynamics strongly affect the dynamics of colloidal gelation but not gel structure

J. de Graaf, W. C. K. Poon, M. J. Haughey and M. Hermes, Soft Matter, 2019, 15, 10 DOI: 10.1039/C8SM01611A

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