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Phys. Rev. B 54, 6050 - 6053 (1996)

Homogeneous to inhomogeneous transition in charged colloids

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B. V. R. Tata * and Norio Ise †
Central Laboratory, Rengo Co. Ltd., 186-1-4, Ohhiraki, Fukushima, Osaka 553, Japan

Received 22 March 1996; revised 23 May 1996

Using Monte Carlo simulations we report a homogeneous to inhomogeneous transition in colloidal dispersions as a function of surface charge density of the particles and ionic strength. Homogeneous crystalline suspensions are found to develop voids coexisting with dense ordered and disordered structures beyond a critical charge density. The present results explain the reported experimental observations of stable voids in equilibrium with ordered and disordered structures, which suggest long-range attraction between the particles. The limitations of the the Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek potential are discussed in the light of the present results.


©1996 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.54.6050
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.54.6050

* Permanent address: Materials Science Division, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam-603102, Tamilnadu, India.
† To whom correspondence should be made.

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