title: Time-dependent strength of colloidal gels.
abstract: Colloidal silica gels are shown to stiffen with time, as demonstrated by both dynamic light scattering and bulk rheological measurements. Their elastic moduli increase as a power law with time, independent of particle volume fraction; however, static light scattering indicates that there are no large-scale structural changes. We propose that increases in local elasticity arising from bonding between neighboring colloidal particles can account for the strengthening of the network, while preserving network structure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics & DEAS, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Manley
authors.forename: Benny
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Davidovitch
authors.forename: Neil R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cipelletti
authors.forename: A E
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authors.lastname: Bailey
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authors.lastname: Christianson
authors.forename: U
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authors.lastname: Gasser
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authors.lastname: Prasad
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authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Segre
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authors.lastname: Doherty
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authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sankaran
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Jankovsky
authors.forename: B
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authors.lastname: Shiley
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authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bowen
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authors.lastname: Eggers
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authors.lastname: Kurta
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authors.lastname: Lorik
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Weitz