Influence of polymer excluded volume on the phase behavior of colloid-polymer mixtures

TL;DR

This study uses large-scale simulations to explore how polymer excluded volume influences the phase behavior of colloid-polymer mixtures, revealing significant qualitative differences from traditional models and aligning with experimental data.

Contribution

It introduces detailed simulation analysis showing the impact of polymer excluded volume on phase diagrams, surpassing the accuracy of standard theories.

Findings

Excluded volume interactions cause qualitative changes in phase diagrams.

Larger polymers amplify the effects of excluded volume.

Simulation results match recent experimental observations.

Abstract

We determine the depletion-induced phase-behavior of hard sphere colloids and interacting polymers by large-scale Monte Carlo simulations using very accurate coarse-graining techniques. A comparison with standard Asakura-Oosawa model theories and simulations shows that including excluded volume interactions between polymers leads to qualitative differences in the phase diagrams. These effects become increasingly important for larger relative polymer size. Our simulations results agree quantitatively with recent experiments.