PHASE-BEHAVIOR OF DISPERSIONS OF HARD SPHERICAL-PARTICLES

A series of experiments on concentrated dispersions of hard colloidal spheres is discussed. The observed phase behavior is analogous to that of simple atomic systems: colloidal fluid, crystal and glass phases are found. The structure of the crystals, revealed by light diffraction, is a strongly faulted stacking of hexagonally-packed layers of particles. Dynamic light scattering confirms that the concentration of the metastable fluid phase for which long-ranged particle diffusion ceases coincides with the concentration where the glass transition is observed macroscopically. In studies of a binary mixture of colloidal spheres with a size ratio 0.61 eutectics, glass formation and the AB 13 type alloy structure have been identified. © 1990, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.