Phase behaviour of binary mixtures of colloidal charged spheres

Abstract As a step towards the modelling of binary metal alloys we here report on the shape of the phase boundary of two deionized charged sphere colloidal suspensions as a function of mixing ratio and particle density. Their size ratios are r = 0.68 and r = 0.56. Both aqueous suspensions of polystyrene copolymer spheres crystallize in a body-centred cubic structure. Interesting differences in the shape of the phase boundary are observed. In the first case a peaked increase of crystal stability was observed for a mixing ratio of p = 0.2–0.3, which gives the fraction of small spheres. Also in the second case the stability of the crystalline phase is larger than expected for an ideal solid so…

To make a glass—avoid the crystal

Colloidal model systems allow for a flexible tuning of particle sizes, particle spacings and mutual interactions at constant temperature. Colloidal suspensions typically crystallize as soon as the interactions get sufficiently strong and long-ranged. Several strategies have been successfully applied to avoid crystallization and instead produce colloidal glasses. Most of these amorphous solids are formed at high particle concentrations. This paper shortly reviews experimental attempts to produce amorphous colloidal solids using strategies based on topological, thermodynamic and kinetic considerations. We complement this overview by introducing a (transient) amorphous solid forming in a thoro…

Melting and Freezing Lines for a Mixture of Charged Colloidal Spheres with Spindle-Type Phase Diagram

We have measured the phase behavior of a binary mixture of like-charged colloidal spheres with a size ratio of 0.9 and a charge ratio of 0.96 as a function of particle number density n and composition p. Under exhaustively deionized conditions the aqueous suspension forms solid solutions of body centered cubic structure for all compositions. The freezing and melting lines as a function of composition show opposite behavior and open a wide, spindle shaped coexistence region. Lacking more sophisticated treatments, we model the interaction in our mixtures as an effective one-component pair energy accounting for number weighted effective charge and screening constant. Using this description, we…

Solidification Experiments in Single-Component and Binary Colloidal Melts

Phase behaviour of deionized binary mixtures of charged colloidal spheres.

We review recent work on the phase behaviour of binary charged sphere mixtures as a function of particle concentration and composition. Both size ratios and charge ratios are varied over a wide range. By contrast to hard spheres the long ranged Coulomb interaction stabilizes the crystal phase at low particle concentrations and shifts the occurrence of amorphous solids to particle concentrations considerably larger than the freezing concentration. Depending on size- and charge ratios we observe upper azeotrope, spindle, lower azeotrope and eutectic types of phase diagrams, all known well from metal systems. Most solids are of body centred cubic structure. Occasionally stoichiometric compound…