| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/R52121/01 |
| Title: |
Polydispersity effects on colloidal phase behaviour |
| Principal Investigator: |
Sollich, Professor P |
| Other Investigators: |
|
| Researcher Co-Investigators: |
|
| Project Partners: |
|
| Department: |
Mathematics |
| Organisation: |
Kings College London |
| Scheme: |
Fast Stream |
| Starts: |
01 October 2001 |
Ends: |
30 September 2004 |
Value (£): |
62,641
|
| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Complex fluids & soft solids |
Materials Characterisation |
|
| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
|
| Related Grants: |
|
| Panel History: |
|
|
Summary on Grant Application Form |
|
Many industrially and commercially important materials contain colloidal particles or polymers, and are therefore generically polydisperse: They comprise a continuous range of colloid particle radii (and possibly shapes, surface charges etc.) or, similarly, of polymer chain lengths. To process these materials, one needs to know under which conditions of pressure and temperature they are stable against demixing, how many phases will result if they do demix, and what their properties are. Studying the effects of polydispersity on such phase behaviour is a challenging problem which crosses traditional discipline boundaries between physics, chemistry, chemical engineering and mathematics: With an effectively infinite number of particle species present, there is no a priori limit on the number of coexisting phases, and fractionation (the fact that particles may partition themselves unevenly across phases) leads to complicated phase diagrams. Using the recently developed moment free energy method, which simplifies the analysis to that for a mixture of a small number of particle species and so restores physical insight and numerical efficiency, we will analyse theoretically the effects of polydispersity in two broad classes of colloidal systems: Liquid crystals formed by rod-like colloidal particles, and suspensions of spherical colloids (with extensions to plate-like particles and colloid-polymer mixtures if time permits). We will also develop tools for calculating phase equilibria in generic polydisperse systems, and for visualizing the results in a way that optimally retains fractionation information while remaining intelligible to users.
|
|
Key Findings |
|
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
|
|
Potential use in non-academic contexts |
|
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
|
|
Impacts |
|
| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
|
| Date Materialised |
|
|
|
|
Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
|
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
|
| Project URL: |
|
| Further Information: |
|
| Organisation Website: |
|