Research

Projects:

Colloidal Heteroaggregation between oppositely charged particles

We study the aggregation in a colloidal suspension composed of a mixture of positive and negative particles. Light scattering experiments and Brownian dynamics simulations are used to follow the kinetics of aggregation and the structure of the aggregates. At low salt concentration, kinetic models have been developed to explain the results. The structure of the clusters is fractal, and the corresponding dimension is lower than that observed for clusters formed in Diffusion Limitted Cluster Aggregation (DLCA) or Reaction Limited Cluster Aggregation (RLCA).

Glass-like arrest in colloidal gels. Simulations and comparison with Mode Coupling Theory

A colloid-polymer mixture, modeled by the Asakura-Oosawa interaction potential between colloidal particles, is simulated in order to study gelation. The phase diagram of the system is studied and the the gel transition is analysed using the formalism of Mode Coupling Theory (MCT). Gelation can be interpreted as a regular non-ergodic transition, similar to the glass transition in simple liquids or hard-spheres. The comparison with MCT yields qualitative agreement with the theoretical predictions.

Phase diagram of mixtures of oppositely charged colloidal particles

The phase diagram of a system composed of a mixture of positve and negative colloidal particles is studied by MonteCarlo simulations. The results are compared with the RPM model for simple electrolites. Interestingly, a reentrant fluid phase is found as a function of the ionic concentration (range of the attraction). The dynamics of the system shows a glass transition at high density and a gel phase at low temperatures.

This project is being carried out by my student José Baldomero Caballero.

Microrheology of dense colloidal systems

An external force is applied to a single colloidal particle in a dense suspension. The dynamics of this particle provides information about the microrheological properties of bath. Different situations are obtained if the tracer is pulled with a constant external force, at a constant velocity or trapped in a harmonic potential, where both the particle velocity and external force can fluctuate. The results are compared with Mode Coupling Theory and experiments.

Publications

44.	Aging of a hard-sphere glass: effect of the microscopic dynamics Antonio M. Puertas Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 22 10121 (2010). Abstract
43.	Colloidal permeability of liquid membranes consisting of hard particles by nonequilibrium simulations Maria J. Ariza, Antonio M. Puertas Journal of Chemical Physics, 131 144906 (2009). Abstract
42.	Active and nonlinear microrheology in dense colloidal suspensions Igor Gazuz, Antonio M. Puertas, Thomas Voigtmann, Matthias Fuchs Physical Review Letters, 102 248302 (2009). Abstract
41.	Comparison of structure and transport properties of concentrated hard and soft sphere fluids Erik Lange, Jose B. Caballero, Antonio M. Puertas, Matthias Fuchs Journal of Chemical Physics, 130 174903 (2009). Abstract
40.	Phase behaviour of a model colloid-polymer mixture at low colloid concentration Manuel S. Romero-Cano, Antonio M. Puertas Soft Matter, 4, 1242 (2008). Abstract
39.	Viscoelasticity and Stokes-Einstein relation in repulsive and attractive colloidal glasses Antonio M. Puertas, Cristiano de Michele, Francesco Sciortino, Piero Tartaglia, Emanuela Zaccarelli Journal of Chemical Physics, 127 144906 (2007). Abstract // cond-mat/0705.2988
38.	Bond formation and slow heterogeneous dynamics in adhesive spheres with long-ranged repulsion: Quantitative test of mode coupling theory Oliver Henrich, Antonio M. Puertas, Matthias Sperl, Johan Baschnagel, and Matthias Fuchs Physical Review E 76, 031404 (2007). Abstract // cond-mat/0705.0637
37.	Linking Phase Behaviour and Reversible Colloidal Aggregation at low Concentrations: Simulations and Stochastic Mean Field Theory Antonio M. Puertas, Gerardo Odriozola Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 111, 5564 (2007). Abstract
36.	Low temperature behaviour and glass line of the symmetrical colloidal electrolyte Jose B. Caballero, Antonio M. Puertas Physical Review E, 76 011401 (2007). Abstract // cond-mat/0701419
35.	Competition between glass transition and liquid-gas separation in attracting colloids A. M. Puertas, M. Fuchs, M.E. Cates Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 19, 205140 (2007). Abstract // cond-mat/0610542
34.	`Aging in attraction-driven colloidal glasses`Antonio M. Puertas, Matthias Fuchs, Michael E. Cates Physical Review E, 75, 031401 (2007). Abstract // cond-mat/0603666
33.	Density anomaly and liquid-liquid transition from perturbation Jose B. Caballero, Antonio M. Puertas Physical Review E 74 051506 (2006) Abstract
32.	Stability of the Liquid Phase in Colloidal Electrolytes Jose B. Caballero, Antonio M. Puertas Journal of Molecular Structure: THEOCHEM 769 157 (2006) Abstract // cond-mat/0511666
31.	Dynamical heterogeneities in an attraction driven colloidal glass Antonio M. Puertas, Matthias Fuchs, Michael E. Cates Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 352 4830 (2006) Abstract // cond-mat/051044
30.	Experimental Phase Diagram of Symmetric Binary Colloidal Mixtures with Opposite Charges M.S. Romero Cano, J.B. Caballero, A.M. Puertas Journal of Physical Chemistry B 110 13220 (2006) Abstract
29.	Liquid-gas separation in colloidal electrolytes J.B. Caballero, A.M. Puertas, A. Fernandez-Barbero, F. Javier de las Nieves, J.M. Romero-Enrique, L.F. Rull Journal of Chemical Physics 124, 054909 (2006) Abstract // cond-mat/0508259
28.	Structure factor scaling in colloidal charge heteroaggregation A.M. Puertas, A. Fernandez-Barbero, F. Javier de las Nieves EuroPhysical Journal E 18, 335 (2005) Abstract
27.	Viscoelastic properties of attractive and repulsive colloidal glasses Antonio M. Puertas, Emanuela Zaccarelli, Francesco Sciortino Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 17, L271 (2005) Abstract // cond-mat/0410354
26.	Formation of clusters in a mixture of spherical colloidal particles oppositely charged J.B. Caballero, A.M. Puertas, A. Fernandez-Barbero, F. Javier de las Nieves Colloid and Surfaces A, 270, 285 (2005). Abstract
25.	Mode Coupling and Dynamical Heterogeneity in Colloidal Gelation: A Simulation Study A.M. Puertas, M. Fuchs, M.E. Cates Journal of Physical Chemistry B 109, 6666 (2005). Abstract // cond-mat/0409740
24.	Tagged-particle dynamics in a hard-sphere system: mode-coupling theory analysis Th. Voigtmann, A.M. Puertas, M. Fuchs Phys. Rev. E 70, 061506 (2004). Abstract // cond-mat/0406036
23.	Oppositely charged colloidal binary mixtures: a colloidal analogue of the Restricted Primitive Model J.B. Caballero, A.M. Puertas, A. Fernandez-Barbero, F.J. de las Nieves Journal of Chemical Physics, 121, 2428, (2004). Abstract
22.	Theory and simulation of gelation, arrest and yielding in attracting colloids M.E. Cates, M. Fuchs, K. Kroy, W.C.K. Poon, A.M. Puertas, Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 16, S4861 (2004). Abstract // cond-matt/0403684
21.	Dynamical heterogeneities close to a colloidal gel A.M. Puertas, M. Fuchs, M.E. Cates Journal of Chemical Physics, 121, 2813, (2004). Abstract // cond-matt/0412364
20.	Internal structure of clusters from charge heteroaggregation A.M. Puertas, A. Fernández-Barbero, F.J. de las Nieves. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 274, 346 (2004). Abstract
19.	Colloidal aggregation induced by long range attractions A.M. Puertas, A. Fernández-Barbero, F.J. de las Nieves, L.F. Rull Langmuir 20, 9861 (2004). Abstract
18.	Induced asymmetries in the Heteroaggregation of oppositely charged colloidal particles A.M. Puertas, A. Fernández-Barbero, F.J. de las Nieves. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 265, 31 (2003). Abstract
17.	Simulation study of Non-ergodicity Transitions: Gelation in Colloidal Systems A.M. Puertas, M. Fuchs, M.E. Cates Phys. Rev. E 67, 031406 (2003). Abstract
16.	Multiple glassy states in simple model system K.N. Pham, A.M. Puertas, J. Bergenholtz, S.U. Egelhaaf, A. Moussaïd, P.N. Pusey, A.B. Schofield, M.E. Cates, M. Fuchs, W.C.K. Poon, Science 296, 104 (2002). Abstract
15.	Comparative simulation study of colloidal gels and glasses A.M. Puertas, M. Fuchs, M.E. Cates. Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 098301 (2002). Abstract
14.	Kinetics of colloidal heteroaggregation A.M. Puertas, A. Fernández-Barbero, F.J. de las Nieves. Physica A, 304, 340 (2002). Abstract
13.	Kinetics of charge heteroaggregation by Brownian dynamics simulation: role of the interaction potential profile A.M. Puertas, A. Fernández-Barbero, F.J. de las Nieves. Colloids and Surfaces A, 195, 189 (2001). Abstract
12.	Colloidal aggregation induced by attractive interactions A.M. Puertas, A. Fernández-Barbero, F.J. de las Nieves. Journal of Chemical Physics, 115, 5662 (2001). Abstract
11.	Charged colloidal heteroaggregation kinetics A.M. Puertas, A. Fernández-Barbero, F.J. de las Nieves. Journal of Chemical Physics, 114, 591 (2001). Abstract
10.	Agregación de sistemas coloidales con cargas opuestas: Efecto de la concentración relativa de partículas A.M. Puertas, A. Fernández Barbero, F.J. de las Nieves. Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Cerámica y vidrio, 39, 441 (2000). (There is not electronic version of this journal).
9.	Colloidal aggregation under steric interactions: Simulation and experiments M.S. Romero-Cano, A.M. Puertas, F.J. de las Nieves. Journal of Chemical Physics, 112, 8654 (2000). Abstract
8.	Aggregation between oppositely charged colloidal particles A.M. Puertas, A. Fernández-Barbero, F.J. de las Nieves. Progress in Colloid and Polymer Science, 115, 55 (2000). Abstract
7.	Brownian dynamics simulation of diffusive mesoscopic particle aggregation A.M. Puertas, A. Fernández-Barbero, F.J. de las Nieves. Computer Physics Communications 121-122, 353 (1999). Abstract
6.	Colloidal stability of polymer colloids with variable surface charge A.M. Puertas, F.J. de las Nieves. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 216, 221 (1999). Abstract
5.	Particle interactions in colloidal aggregation by Brownian dynamics simulation A.M. Puertas, J.A. Maroto, A. Fernández-Barbero, F.J. de las Nieves. Physical Review E, 59 1943 (1999). Abstract
4.	On the kinetics of heteroaggregation versus electrolyte concentration: comparison between simulation and experiment A.M. Puertas, J.A. Maroto, A. Fernández-Barbero, F.J. de las Nieves. Colloids and Surfaces 151, 473 (1999). Abstract
3.	Theoretical description of the absorbance versus time curve in a homocoagulation process A.M. Puertas, J.A. Maroto, F.J. de las Nieves. Colloids and Surfaces 140, 23 (1998). Abstract
2.	A new method for calculating kinetic constants within the Rayleigh-Gans-Debye approximation from turbidity measurements A.M. Puertas, F.J. de las Nieves Journal of Physics C 9, 3313 (1997) Abstract
1.	Study of the singular anharmonic potentials by the analytic continuation method E. Buendia, F.J. Gálvez, A. Puertas. Journal of Physics A 28, 6731 (1995). Abstract

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