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Directed percolation identified as equilibrium pre-transition towards non-equilibrium arrested gel states

The macroscopic properties of gels arise from their slow dynamics and load-bearing network structure, which are exploited by nature and in numerous industrial products. However, a link between these structural and dynamical properties has remained elusive. Here we present confocal microscopy experim...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Kohl, M., Capellmann, R. F., Laurati, M., Egelhaaf, S. U., Schmiedeberg, M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4906224/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27279005
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11817
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author Kohl, M.
Capellmann, R. F.
Laurati, M.
Egelhaaf, S. U.
Schmiedeberg, M.
author_facet Kohl, M.
Capellmann, R. F.
Laurati, M.
Egelhaaf, S. U.
Schmiedeberg, M.
author_sort Kohl, M.
collection PubMed
description The macroscopic properties of gels arise from their slow dynamics and load-bearing network structure, which are exploited by nature and in numerous industrial products. However, a link between these structural and dynamical properties has remained elusive. Here we present confocal microscopy experiments and simulations of gel-forming colloid–polymer mixtures. They reveal that gel formation is preceded by continuous and directed percolation. Both transitions lead to system-spanning networks, but only directed percolation results in extremely slow dynamics, ageing and a shrinking of the gel that resembles synaeresis. Therefore, dynamical arrest in gels is found to be linked to a structural transition, namely directed percolation, which is quantitatively associated with the mean number of bonded neighbours. Directed percolation denotes a universality class of transitions. Our study hence connects gel formation to a well-developed theoretical framework, which now can be exploited to achieve a detailed understanding of arrested gels.
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spelling pubmed-49062242016-06-24 Directed percolation identified as equilibrium pre-transition towards non-equilibrium arrested gel states Kohl, M. Capellmann, R. F. Laurati, M. Egelhaaf, S. U. Schmiedeberg, M. Nat Commun Article The macroscopic properties of gels arise from their slow dynamics and load-bearing network structure, which are exploited by nature and in numerous industrial products. However, a link between these structural and dynamical properties has remained elusive. Here we present confocal microscopy experiments and simulations of gel-forming colloid–polymer mixtures. They reveal that gel formation is preceded by continuous and directed percolation. Both transitions lead to system-spanning networks, but only directed percolation results in extremely slow dynamics, ageing and a shrinking of the gel that resembles synaeresis. Therefore, dynamical arrest in gels is found to be linked to a structural transition, namely directed percolation, which is quantitatively associated with the mean number of bonded neighbours. Directed percolation denotes a universality class of transitions. Our study hence connects gel formation to a well-developed theoretical framework, which now can be exploited to achieve a detailed understanding of arrested gels. Nature Publishing Group 2016-06-09 /pmc/articles/PMC4906224/ /pubmed/27279005 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11817 Text en Copyright © 2016, Nature Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited. All Rights Reserved. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
spellingShingle Article
Kohl, M.
Capellmann, R. F.
Laurati, M.
Egelhaaf, S. U.
Schmiedeberg, M.
Directed percolation identified as equilibrium pre-transition towards non-equilibrium arrested gel states
title Directed percolation identified as equilibrium pre-transition towards non-equilibrium arrested gel states
title_full Directed percolation identified as equilibrium pre-transition towards non-equilibrium arrested gel states
title_fullStr Directed percolation identified as equilibrium pre-transition towards non-equilibrium arrested gel states
title_full_unstemmed Directed percolation identified as equilibrium pre-transition towards non-equilibrium arrested gel states
title_short Directed percolation identified as equilibrium pre-transition towards non-equilibrium arrested gel states
title_sort directed percolation identified as equilibrium pre-transition towards non-equilibrium arrested gel states
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4906224/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27279005
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11817
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