Critical behavior of colloid-polymer mixtures in random porous media

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that colloid-polymer mixtures in random porous media exhibit critical behavior akin to the random-field Ising model, with strong random-field effects making them suitable for experimental study.

Contribution

It establishes the universality class of the critical behavior and highlights the strong random-field effects in colloid-polymer mixtures within porous media.

Findings

Critical behavior matches the random-field Ising model

Random-field effects are surprisingly strong

Suitable for experimental investigation of random-field phenomena

Abstract

We show that the critical behavior of a colloid-polymer mixture inside a random porous matrix of quenched hard spheres belongs to the universality class of the random-field Ising model. We also demonstrate that random-field effects in colloid-polymer mixtures are surprisingly strong. This makes these systems attractive candidates to study random-field behavior experimentally.