6533b82efe1ef96bd1292677

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Crystal nucleation versus vitrification in charged colloidal suspensions

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We investigated the solidification behaviour of thoroughly deionised aqueous suspensions of polystyrene latex spheres by various optical scattering methods. We found a dramatic increase in the nucleation rate densities with increasing particle number density. Crystalline and nanocrystalline samples showed two relaxation processes on widely separated time scales. For an index-matched suspension of perfluorinated particles an amorphous state was accessible with the glass-typical signature of frozen long-time relaxation. From our results we propose a route into the amorphous state different to that observed in hard-sphere suspensions. It seems that in charged-sphere systems the increased nucleation rate density triggers the appearance of a Bernal-type glass.