The impact of viscosity asymmetry on phase separating binary mixtures with suspended colloids

Abstract

The introduction of neutrally wetting colloidal particles into coarsening binary fluids is known to arrest the dynamics of the phase separation, as the colloids tend to be captured by the growing interfaces to reduce the free energy of the system. This phenomenon has often been studied in systems with symmetric fluid viscosities. In this study, we investigate the behavior of colloidal particles introduced into asymmetric binary fluids with a viscosity contrast. Our results show that due to the broken symmetry the colloidal particles more easily escape from the interface towards the more viscous fluid, which reduces the lifetime of the jammed phase. Moreover, the presence of colloidal particles near the interfaces promotes the formation of micro-droplets with typical sizes comparable to the colloids.