Colloidal Dispersions Under Slit-Pore Confinement

By Yan Zeng

Subjects: Dynamical Systems and Complexity Statistical Physics, Physics, Nanotechnology, Complex Fluids and Microfluidics Soft and Granular Matter, Dusty plasmas, Physical organic chemistry, Colloids, Physical and theoretical Chemistry, Condensed matter, Thin Films Surface and Interface Science

Description: <p>This dissertation contributes to the understanding of fundamental issues in the highly interdisciplinary field of colloidal science. Beyond colloid science, the system also serves as a model for studying interactions in biological matter. This work quantitatively investigated the scaling laws of the characteristic lengths of the structuring of colloidal dispersions and tested the generality of these laws, thereby explaining and resolving some long-standing contradictions in the literature. <br><br>It revealed the effect of confinement on the structuring, independently of specific properties of the confining interfaces. In addition, it resolved the influence of roughness and charge of the confining interfaces on the structuring, as well as providing a method to measure the effect of surface deformability on colloidal structuring.</p><p></p>