Kinetic phase diagrams of a ternary hard sphere mixture

TL;DR

This paper investigates the dynamic arrest transitions in a ternary hard sphere colloidal system using SCGLE theory, revealing re-entrant glass states influenced by small species and comparing results with MCT theory.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed kinetic phase diagram for a ternary mixture and compares SCGLE and MCT theories, highlighting differences in predicted glass transition behaviors.

Findings

Small species induce a second re-entrant glass transition.

The new glass phase has very small localization length.

Significant differences are found between SCGLE and MCT predictions.

Abstract

We use the Self Consisten Generalized Langevin Equation theory (SCGLE) to study the dynamic arrest transitions of a system of three species of hard sphere colloidal system in the size ratio 1:3:9. We find that the inclusion of the smallest species has a depletion effect that drives the system to a second glass-liquid-glass re-entrance in a similar way that the inclusion of a small species in an otherwise monodisperse system leads to a (first) re-entrance. And we also find that the new glass after the second reentrance has very small localization length. Additionally we compare the kinetic phase diagram of a binary hard sphere mixture with size asymmetry 1:5, obtained with Mode Coupling Theory (MCT) and SCGLE theory and exhibit the significant differences between the two theories.