Thermodynamics and phase behavior of the lamellar Zwanzig model

Abstract

Binary mixtures of lamellar colloids represented by hard platelets are studied within a generalization of the Zwanzig model for rods, whereby the square cuboids can take only three orientations along the x, y or z axes. The free energy is calculated within Rosenfeld’s “fundamental measure theory” adapted to the present model. In the one-component limit, the model exhibits the expected isotropic to nematic phase transition, which narrows as the aspect ratio ζ=L/D (D is the width and L the thickness of the platelets) increases. In the binary case the competition between nematic ordering and depletion-induced segregation leads to rich phase behavior.