Numéro |
J. Phys. II France
Volume 5, Numéro 12, December 1995
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Page(s) | 1761 - 1766 | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/jp2:1995213 |
DOI: 10.1051/jp2:1995213
J. Phys. II France 5 (1995) 1761-1766
Cavendish Laboratory, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 OHE, UK
© Les Editions de Physique 1995
J. Phys. II France 5 (1995) 1761-1766
Depletion Force in Polydisperse Systems
Y. MaoCavendish Laboratory, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 OHE, UK
(Received 21 September 1995, accepted 11 October 1995)
Abstract
The entropic depletion force, in colloids, arises when large particles are placed in a solution of smaller ones, and sterically
constrained to avoid them. We calculate the interaction between two flat plates or large hard spheres (of radius
R) in a solution of small and polydisperse hard spheres (of average diameter
) to second order in small sphere concentration. We find that the effect of polydispersity is to generally smoothen out the
depletion force while maintaining the recently predicted repulsive barrier; but for high polydispersities, the repulsion could
be eventually wiped out.
© Les Editions de Physique 1995