Next: Introduction
Interactions, Dynamics
and Elasticity in Charge-Stabilized Colloidal Crystals
Jessica A. Weiss(1), Amy E. Larsen(2), and David G. Grier(3)
June 8, 1998
Abstract:
We describe real-space imaging measurements of the interactions and
elastic properties of charge-stabilized colloidal crystals.
Interactions between charge-stabilized latex spheres self-assembled
into colloidal crystals are
extracted from single-particle dynamics using new techniques
in digital video microscopy.
The spheres' cooperative behavior makes possible simultaneous measurements
of their crystals' bulk moduli.
Together, these measurements offer new insights
into the microscopic origins of
charge-stabilized colloidal crystals' bulk elastic
properties.
In particular, they demonstrate that the crystals' elastic
properties cannot be ascribed to the linear superposition
of pairwise interactions.
This result highlights the potential pitfalls of using the conventional
DLVO theory to describe the bulk properties of charge-stabilized
colloidal suspensions.
David G. Grier
1998-06-08