0000000000022422
AUTHOR
Siegfried Dietrich
Electrostatic interactions in critical solvents
The subtle interplay between critical phenomena and electrostatics is investigated by considering the effective force acting on two parallel walls confining a near-critical binary liquid mixture with added salt. The ion-solvent coupling can turn a non-critical repulsive electrostatic force into an attractive one upon approaching the critical point. However, the effective force is eventually dominated by the critical Casimir effect, the universal properties of which are not altered by the presence of salt. This observation allows a consistent interpretation of recent experimental data.
PHASE TRANSITIONS AT INTERFACES
The interface between two phases may exhibit significant structural changes if one of them comes close to a phase transition in its bulk. Surface critical phenomena, critical adsorption, and wetting phenomena, like e.g. surface melting or surface induced disorder, can occur. The grazing incidence of X rays and neutrons is particularly well suited in order to obtain precise informations about these kind of critical phenomena which link the space dimensions two and three.
Effective interactions of colloids on nematic films.
The elastic and capillary interactions between a pair of colloidal particles trapped on top of a nematic film are studied theoretically for large separations $d$. The elastic interaction is repulsive and of quadrupolar type, varying as $d^{-5}$. For macroscopically thick films, the capillary interaction is likewise repulsive and proportional to $d^{-5}$ as a consequence of mechanical isolation of the system comprised of the colloids and the interface. A finite film thickness introduces a nonvanishing force on the system (exerted by the substrate supporting the film) leading to logarithmically varying capillary attractions. However, their strength turns out to be too small to be of importanc…