Phase diagram of colloid-rod system

Abstract

The semigrand ensemble theory [H. N. W. Lekkerkerker, W. C. K. Poon, P. N. Pusey, A. Stroobants, and P. B. Warren, Europhys. Lett. 20, 559 (1992)] in conjunction with the fundamental measure density functional theory [V. B. Warshavsky and X. Song, Phys. Rev. E 69, 061113 (2004)] are used to construct the Helmholtz free energy densities of a mixture of uncharged colloidal hard spheres and colloidal rods in its solid and liquid phases. Given these free energy density functions, we apply the free energy density minimization method [G. F. Wang and S. K. Lai, Phys. Rev. E 70, 051402 (2004)] to crosshatch the system's regions of phases in coexistence. The calculated results show that the triangular area bounded by gas-liquid, gas-solid, and liquid-solid coexisting two phases which has been called the coexistence region of gas-liquid-solid corresponds in fact to sets of two phases in coexistence. The phase boundaries which define our calculated coexistence domains compare very well with previous theoretical calculations. The relevance of the phase-diagram domains to three phases in coexistence will be discussed.