title: Partial clustering in binary two-dimensional colloidal suspensions.
abstract: Strongly interacting binary mixtures of superparamagnetic colloidal particles confined to a two-dimensional water-air interface are examined by theory, computer simulation, and experiment. The mixture exhibits a partial clustering in equilibrium: in the voids of the matrix of unclustered big particles, the small particles form subclusters with a spongelike topology which is accompanied by a characteristic small-wave vector peak in the small-small structure factor. This partial clustering is a general phenomenon occurring for strongly coupled negatively nonadditive mixtures.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Theoretische Physik II, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Universitätsstrasse 1, D-40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Norman
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ebert
authors.forename: Christos N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Likos
authors.forename: Hartmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Löwen
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Maret
mesh_terms: D003102:Colloids / Q000737:chemistry*; D007700:Kinetics; D013535:Suspensions / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D003102:Colloids; D013535:Suspensions