TY - JOUR
T1 - Glassy states in asymmetric mixtures of soft and hard colloids
AU - Truzzolillo, Domenico
AU - Marzi, Daniela
AU - Marakis, John
AU - Capone, Barbara
AU - Camargo, Manuel
AU - Munam, Abdul
AU - Moingeon, Firmin
AU - Gauthier, Mario
AU - Likos, Christos N.
AU - Vlassopoulos, Dimitris
PY - 2013/11/14
Y1 - 2013/11/14
N2 - By employing rheological experiments, mode coupling theory, and computer simulations based on realistic coarse-grained models, we investigate the effects of small, hard colloids on the glassy states formed by large, soft colloids. Multiarm star polymers mimic hard and soft colloids by appropriately varying the number and size of their arms. The addition of hard colloids leads, depending on their concentration, to either melting of the soft glass or the emergence of two distinct glassy states. We explain our findings by depletion of the colloids adjacent to the stars, which leads to an arrested phase separation when the repulsive glass line meets the demixing binodal. The parameter-free agreement between experiment, theory, and simulations suggests the generic nature of our results and opens the route for designing soft-hard colloidal composites with tunable rheology.
AB - By employing rheological experiments, mode coupling theory, and computer simulations based on realistic coarse-grained models, we investigate the effects of small, hard colloids on the glassy states formed by large, soft colloids. Multiarm star polymers mimic hard and soft colloids by appropriately varying the number and size of their arms. The addition of hard colloids leads, depending on their concentration, to either melting of the soft glass or the emergence of two distinct glassy states. We explain our findings by depletion of the colloids adjacent to the stars, which leads to an arrested phase separation when the repulsive glass line meets the demixing binodal. The parameter-free agreement between experiment, theory, and simulations suggests the generic nature of our results and opens the route for designing soft-hard colloidal composites with tunable rheology.
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U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.208301
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.208301
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84888145637
SN - 0031-9007
VL - 111
JO - Physical Review Letters
JF - Physical Review Letters
IS - 20
M1 - 208301
ER -