Issue |
Europhys. Lett.
Volume 61, Number 5, March 2003
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | 695 - 701 | |
Section | Interdisciplinary physics and related areas of science and technology | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/epl/i2003-00142-5 | |
Published online | 01 February 2003 |
Effect of many-body interactions on the solid-liquid phase behavior of charge-stabilized colloidal suspensions
1
Universität Konstanz, Fachbereich Physik - D-78457 Konstanz, Germany
2
Institut für Festkörperforschung, Forschungszentrum Jülich D-52425 Jülich, Germany
Corresponding author: Jure.Dobnikar@uni-konstanz.de
Received:
9
September
2002
Accepted:
17
December
2002
The solid-liquid phase diagram of charge-stabilized colloidal suspensions has been calculated using a technique that combines a continuous Poisson-Boltzmann description for the microscopic electrolyte ions with a molecular-dynamics simulation for the macroionic colloidal spheres. While correlations between the microions are neglected in this approach, many-body interactions between the colloids, mediated by the screening ionic fluid between them, are fully included. The Lindemann criterion has been used to determine the solid-to-liquid transition temperature in a colloidal system at a relatively high colloid volume fraction where many-body interactions are expected to be strong. With a view to the Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek theory predicting that colloids interact via Yukawa pair potentials, we compare our results with the phase diagram of a simple Yukawa liquid. We find an agreement under high-salt conditions, but considerable differences at low ionic strength. Using effective force calculations and data from molecular-dynamics simulations with simple model potentials, we further demonstrate that these differences are due to many-body interactions.
PACS: 82.70.Dd – Colloids / 82.70.-y – Disperse systems; complex fluids / 05.20.Jj – Statistical mechanics of classical fluids
© EDP Sciences, 2003
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