Colloids out of equilibrium

Competing nucleation pathways in a mixture of oppositely charged colloids: out-of-equilibrium nucleation revisited.

Recent simulations of crystal nucleation from a compressed liquid of oppositely charged colloids show that the natural Brownian dynamics results in nuclei of a charge-disordered FCC (DFCC) solid whereas artificially accelerated dynamics with charge swap moves result in charge-ordered nuclei of a CsCl phase. These results were interpreted as a breakdown of the quasiequilibrium assumption for pre...

Model Soft Colloids out of Equilibrium: Glass-like and Re-entrant Transitions

Star polymers with tunable number and size of arms, and thus interactions, represent ideal model systems for exploring the regime of soft material behaviour that interpolates between hard spheres and polymeric coils. This regime is characterized by a rich variety of properties that reflect the combination of polymeric and colloidal features. In this review we discuss some of these properties, a...

Equilibrium Gels of Limited Valence Colloids

Gels are low-packing arrested states of matter which are able to support stress. On cooling, limited valence colloidal particles form open networks stabilized by the progressive increase of the interparticle bond lifetime. These gels, named equilibrium gels, are the focus of this review article. Differently from other types of colloidal gels, equilibrium gels do not require an underlying phase ...

Thermal non-equilibrium transport in colloids

Out of Equilibrium

This review article takes the volume by Mario Amendola and Jean-Luc Gaffard Out of Equilibrium as the starting point of a general assessment of the scope and perspectives of out-of-equilibrium economics. After describing the particular subject-matter covered by Amendola and Gaffard, the author calls attention upon he fundamental role in their treatment of time, coordination, and the magnitude o...