Description of the Fluctuating Colloid-Polymer Interface

2008/07/22 by Edgar M. Blokhuis, Joris Kuipers, R. L. C. Vink +1 · 2 citations
Chemistry · Engineering · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Material Dynamics and Properties #Phase Equilibria and Thermodynamics #Surfactants and Colloidal Systems #cond-mat.soft #cond-mat.stat-mech

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.101.086101

5 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett

arxiv created 2008/07/22 · openalex publication_date 2008/08/18 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

To describe the full spectrum of surface fluctuations of the interface between phase-separated colloid-polymer mixtures from low scattering vector q (classical capillary wave theory) to high q (bulklike fluctuations), one must take account of the interface's bending rigidity. We find that the bending rigidity is negative and that on approach to the critical point it vanishes proportionally to the interfacial tension. Both features are in agreement with Monte Carlo simulations.

Citations

• The nature of the liquid-vapour interface and other topics in the statistical mechanics of non-uniform, classical fluids

Cited by

• On the spectrum of fluctuations of a liquid surface: From the molecular scale to the macroscopic scale
• The local structure factor near an interface; beyond extended capillary-wave models