Gelation as arrested phase separation in short-ranged attractive colloid-polymer mixtures

TL;DR

This study provides evidence that gelation in short-ranged attractive colloid-polymer mixtures results from arrested phase separation, supported by experiments and simulations, and characterizes gel states in terms of structure and density.

Contribution

It demonstrates that gelation is a universal phenomenon linked to arrested phase separation, independent of the specific attractive potential form.

Findings

Gelation corresponds to arrested phase separation.

Results are independent of the interparticle potential form.

Characterization of gel states includes structure and density analysis.

Abstract

We present further evidence that gelation is an arrested phase separation in attractive colloid-polymer mixtures, based on a method combining confocal microscopy experiments with numerical simulations recently established in {\bf Nature 453, 499 (2008)}. Our results are independent of the form of the interparticle attractive potential, and therefore should apply broadly to any attractive particle system with short-ranged, isotropic attractions. We also give additional characterization of the gel states in terms of their structure, inhomogeneous character and local density.