Colloidal glass transition observed in confinement.
We study a colloidal suspension confined between two quasiparallel walls as a model system for glass transitions in confined geometries. The suspension is a mixture of two particle sizes to prevent wall-induced crystallization. We use confocal microscopy to directly observe the motion of colloidal particles. This motion is slower in confinement, thus producing glassy behavior in a sample which is a liquid in an unconfined geometry. For higher volume fraction samples (closer to the glass transition), the onset of confinement effects occurs at larger length scales.
Physics Department, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA.
Carolyn R
CR
Nugent
Kazem V
KV
Edmond
Hetal N
HN
Patel
Eric R
ER
Weeks