Spatially-resolved heterogeneous dynamics in a strong colloidal gel [corrected].
We re-examine the classical problem of irreversible colloid aggregation, showing that the application of Digital Fourier Imaging (DFI), a class of optical correlation methods that combine the power of light scattering and imaging, allows one to pick out novel useful evidence concerning the restructuring processes taking place in a strong colloidal gel. In particular, the spatially-resolved displacement fields provided by DFI strongly suggest that the temporally-intermittent local rearrangements taking place in the course of gel ageing are characterized by very long-ranged spatial correlations.
Department of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Material Science (CMIC), Politecnico di Milano, via Ponzio 34/3, 20133 Milano, Italy.
Stefano
S
Buzzaccaro
Matteo David
MD
Alaimo
Eleonora
E
Secchi
Roberto
R
Piazza