Slow dynamics of equilibrium density fluctuations in a supercooled colloidal liquid

M. Tokuyama

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2001, vol. 289, issue 1, 57-85

Abstract: On the basis of the recent theory for nonequilibrium suspensions of colloidal hard spheres, the nonlinear equation for the particle mean-square displacement M2(t) is derived for equilibrium suspensions of colloidal hard spheres asdM2(t)/dt=6DSL(φ)+6[DSS(φ)−DSL(φ)]exp[−λ(φ)M2(t)],where φ is a volume fraction of identical hard spheres, DSS(φ) and DSL(φ) are the short- and long-time self-diffusion coefficients, respectively, and λ(φ) is a free parameter to be determined. This equation is used to analyze the recent experimental data for equilibrium colloidal suspensions with small polydispersity. By treating φ and λ as free fitting parameters, a simple transformation from the theoretical volume fraction φ to the experimental volume fraction φexp is obtained. The long-known phenomena similar to those in glass-forming materials, such as the α and β relaxation processes, are also found. With increasing volume fraction φexp, we then observe a progression from normal liquid, to supercooled liquid, and to glass without any sharp transitions in λ and DSL. Thus, analyses show that no divergence of the α- and β-relaxation times take place although the dynamic properties of the colloidal liquid show a drastic slowing down in a supercooled region.

Keywords: Equilibrium density fluctuations; Hard-sphere colloidal suspensions; Slow dynamics; Spatial heterogeneities; Two-step relaxation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2001
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:289:y:2001:i:1:p:57-85

DOI: 10.1016/S0378-4371(00)00445-3

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