Bristol Centre of Colloid and Interface Science
We combine particle-resolved studies of nanoparticles with computer simulation to tackle outstanding questions in condensed matter. Liquids of nanoparticles which can be resolved at the particle level obey the same statistical mechanics as atoms. For example, critical phenomena in nanoparticles are entirely analogous to those in molecular liquids, with the advantage that this exotic behavior can be studied at room temperature and pressure, due to the special interactions between nanoparticles [link].
The fate of metastable liquids is among the grand challenges of condensed matter. Metastable liquids underlie nucleation of crystals [self-assembly] and the glass transition. In the case of the latter, it is not known whether there is a glass transition in the thermodynamic sense [materials are termed glasses once they become "viscous enough"]. We are aided in unraveling these challenges by the topological cluster classification, our unique tool for decomposing amorphous materials into a zoo of 33 different
Metastable liquids exhibit a host of unexpected phenomena. Nanoparticle liquids undergo sedimentation under gravity and laning [like pedestrians on pavements].
Bristol Centre of Colloid and Interface Science