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On the fluid-fluid phase separation in charged-stabilized colloidal suspensions

Yan Levin·Emmanuel Trizac·Lyderic Bocquet
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Abstract

We develop a thermodynamic description of particles held at a fixed surface potential. This system is of particular interest in view of the continuing controversy over the possibility of a fluid-fluid phase separation in aqueous colloidal suspensions with monovalent counterions. The condition of fixed surface potential allows in a natural way to account for the colloidal charge renormalization. In a first approach, we assess the importance of the so called ``volume terms'', and find that in the absence of salt, charge renormalization is sufficient to stabilize suspension against a fluid-fluid phase separation. Presence of salt, on the other hand, is found to lead to an instability. A very strong dependence on the approximations used, however, puts the reality of this phase transition in a serious doubt. To further understand the nature of the instability we next study a Jellium-like approximation, which does not lead to a phase separation and produces a relatively accurate analytical equation of state for a deionized suspensions of highly charged colloidal spheres. A critical analysis of various theories of strongly asymmetric electrolytes is presented to asses their reliability as compared to the Monte Carlo simulations.

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Yan Levin, Emmanuel Trizac, Lyderic Bocquet. 2004-01-12. On the fluid-fluid phase separation in charged-stabilized colloidal suspensions. https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-8984%2F15%2F48%2F012

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