Aggregation kinetics in a model colloidal suspension.
We present molecular dynamics simulations of aggregation kinetics in a colloidal suspension modeled as a highly asymmetric binary mixture. Starting from a configuration with largely uncorrelated colloidal particles the system relaxes by coagulation-fragmentation dynamics to a structured state of low-dimensionality clusters with an exponential size distribution. The results show that short-range repulsive interactions alone can give rise to so-called cluster phases. For the present model and probably other, more common colloids, the observed clusters appear to be equilibrium phase fluctuations induced by the entropic intercolloidal attractions.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, Livermore, California 94550, USA.
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