Phase transitions of hard spheres plus colloids

Abstract

In the previous chapter we considered the effect of added non-adsorbing polymers on the phase behaviour of suspensions of spherical colloids. The depletion effect is also operational in mixtures of large and small (hard) spheres, where two big spheres in a sea of small spheres are brought together. As the big spheres get close, the smaller spheres can no longer enter the gap between the big ones. The outside small particles then push the big spheres together. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.