Abstract
We report small angle static light scattering measurements on colloidal aggregation at high monomer volume fractions. The structure factor S(q) exhibits a pronounced maximum at a finite wave vector q m at any stage during the aggregation reaction. In the later stages the structure factor scales according to a universal law similar to that of spinodal decomposition dynamics: S(q/q m )=q m -d F(q/q m ). At variance with spinodal decomposition, where d=3, we find d=d f , the fractal dimension of colloidal clusters. The aggregation stops when the peak position reaches a certain value q * which depends on the monomer concentration. The terminal stage occurs when all the sample is filled with close packing fractal clusters of size R∞1/q *
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