title: Colloidal aggregation induced by long range attractions.
abstract: The structure of colloidal clusters formed by long-range attractive interactions under diluted conditions is studied by means of Monte Carlo simulations. For a not-too-long attraction range, clusters show self-similar internal structure with lower density than that typical for diffusive aggregation. For long-range interactions, low kappa, nonfractal clusters are formed (dense at short scales but open at long ones). The dependence on the volume fraction shows that more-compact clusters are grown the higher the colloidal density for diffusive aggregation and attraction-driven aggregation in the fractal regime. The whole trend is explained in terms of the interpenetration among aggregates. In attraction-driven aggregations, the interpenetration of clusters competes with aggregation in the tips of the clusters, causing low-density clusters.
authors.affiliation: Group of Complex Fluids Physics, Department of Applied Physics, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain. apuertas@ual.es
authors.forename: Antonio M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Puertas
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fernández-Barbero
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Javier de Las Nieves
authors.forename: Luis F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Rull