International Research Fellow Awards Program: Dynamics of Colloidal Suspensions with Attractive Interactions

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9600329 Bergenholtz The International Research Fellow Awards Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twentyfour months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad. This award will fund a twelve-month postdoctoral research visit which will support Dr. Johan B. Bergenholtz's work with Professor Rudolf Klein at the Universitat Konstanz in Germany. An understanding of the fundamental dynamical processes in colloidal suspensions is important to the formulation of engineering models for the design and optimization of processes involving suspensions of colloidal-sized particles, such as proteins, paints, pigments, and coatings. This understanding is lacking in the case of suspensions and microemulsions when attractive interparticle interactions are strong. The proposed research will extend existing dynamical suspension theories, developed for charged colloidal suspensions, to include systems with attractive interactions. Dynamic light scattering experiments will be used to assess the success of the theoretical developments. This study will elucidate the suspension dynamics near the percolation transition and will provide a better foundation for analyzing the role of colloidal forces on macroscopic suspension properties. ***