Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1
pubmed:dateCreated
2010-12-30
pubmed:abstractText
The relevance of anisotropic interactions in colloidal systems has recently emerged in the context of the rational design of new soft materials. Patchy colloids of different shapes, patterns and functionalities are considered the new building blocks of a bottom-up approach toward the realization of self-assembled bulk materials with predefined properties. The ability to tune the interaction anisotropy will make it possible to recreate molecular structures at the nano- and micro-scales (a case with tremendous technological applications), as well as to generate new unconventional phases, both ordered and disordered. Recent theoretical studies suggest that the phase diagram of patchy colloids can be significantly altered by limiting the particle coordination number (that is, valence). New concepts such as empty liquids—liquid states with vanishing density—and equilibrium gels—arrested networks of bonded particles, which do not require an underlying phase separation to form—have been formulated. Yet no experimental evidence of these predictions has been provided. Here we report the first observation of empty liquids and equilibrium gels in a complex colloidal clay, and support the experimental findings with numerical simulations.
pubmed:commentsCorrections
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:status
PubMed-not-MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jan
pubmed:issn
1476-1122
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
10
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
56-60
pubmed:year
2011
pubmed:articleTitle
Observation of empty liquids and equilibrium gels in a colloidal clay.
pubmed:affiliation
CNR-IPCF and Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma La Sapienza, Piazzale A. Moro 2, I-00185, Rome, Italy. barbara.ruzicka@roma1.infn.it
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article