title: Shear-driven solidification of dilute colloidal suspensions.
abstract: We show that shear-induced solidification of dilute charge-stabilized colloids is due to the interplay between shear-induced formation and breakage of large non-Brownian clusters. While their size is limited by breakage, their number density increases with shearing time. Upon flow cessation, the dense packing of clusters interconnects into a rigid state by means of grainy bonds, each involving a large number of primary colloidal bonds. The emerging picture of shear-driven solidification in dilute colloidal suspensions combines the gelation of Brownian systems with the jamming of athermal systems.
authors.affiliation: Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zürich, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Alessio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zaccone
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gentili
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morbidelli
authors.forename: Emanuela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Del Gado