Dynamic Stratification in Drying Films of Colloidal Mixtures

A Fortini and I Martin-Fabiani and JL De La Haye and PY Dugas and M Lansalot and F D'Agosto and E Bourgeat-Lami and JL Keddie and RP Sear, PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 116, 118301 (2016).

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.118301

In simulations and experiments, we study the drying of films containing mixtures of large and small colloidal particles in water. During drying, the mixture stratifies into a layer of the larger particles at the bottom with a layer of the smaller particles on top. We developed a model to show that a gradient in osmotic pressure, which develops dynamically during drying, is responsible for the segregation mechanism behind stratification.

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