Influence of Polymer-Excluded Volume on the Phase-Behavior of Colloid-Polymer Mixtures

P. G. Bolhuis, A. A. Louis, J-P. Hansen
2002 Physical Review Letters  
We determine the depletion-induced phase-behavior of hard sphere colloids and interacting polymers by large-scale Monte Carlo simulations using very accurate coarse-graining techniques. A comparison with standard Asakura-Oosawa model theories and simulations shows that including excluded volume interactions between polymers leads to qualitative differences in the phase diagrams. These effects become increasingly important for larger relative polymer size. Our simulations results agree quantitatively with recent experiments.
doi:10.1103/physrevlett.89.128302 pmid:12225127 fatcat:ne37qb6a5zenfpdl4m5miagscq