On measuring colloidal volume fractions

By W. Poon, E. Weeks, C. Royall. 2011

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Hard-sphere colloids are popular as models for testing fundamental theories in condensed matter and statistical physics, from crystal nucleation to the glass transition. A single parameter, the volume fraction (ϕ), characterizes an ideal, monodisperse hard-sphere suspension. In comparing experiments with theories and simulation, researchers to date have paid little attention to likely uncertainties in experimentally-quoted ϕ values. We critically review the experimental measurement of ϕ in hard-sphere colloids, and show that while statistical uncertainties in comparing relative values of ϕ can be as low as 10−4, systematic errors of ≳3% are probably unavoidable. The consequences of this are illustrated by way of a case study comparing literature data sets on hard-sphere viscosity and diffusion.

Subfields: Biomedical Engineering, Materials Chemistry, Spectroscopy

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/29499bc0a2e845b1b25d78c5c24263c49a43d8ee