Bridging transitions for spheres and cylinders

TL;DR

This paper investigates the nature and stability of bridging transitions between colloidal particles of different shapes, revealing shape-dependent differences in transition order and stability through theoretical and computational methods.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of bridging transitions for spheres and cylinders, highlighting shape effects on transition order and stability beyond mean-field approximations.

Findings

Bridging transition location scales with particle radius for both shapes.

Cylinders exhibit strongly first-order bridging transitions.

Spheres show varied transition types, including critical and rounded transitions.

Abstract

We study bridging transitions between spherically and cylindrically shaped particles (colloids) of radius $R$ separated by a distance $H$ that are dissolved in a bulk fluid (solvent). Using macroscopics, microscopic density functional theory and finite-size scaling theory we study the location and order of the bridging transition and also the stability of the liquid bridges which determines spinodal lines. The location of the bridging transitions is similar for cylinders and spheres, so that for example, at bulk coexistence the distance $H_b$ at which a transition between bridged and unbridged configurations occurs, is proportional to the colloid radius $R$. However all other aspects, and, in particular, the stability of liquid bridges, are very different in the two systems. Thus, for cylinders the bridging transition is typically strongly first-order, while for spheres it may be first-order, critical or rounded as determined by a critical radius $R_c$. The influence of thick wetting films and fluctuation effects beyond mean-field are also discussed in depth.