Kinetic Pathways to Gelation and Effects of Flow-Induced Structuring in Depletion Gels.

The kinetic pathways to gelation and the effects of flow-induced restructuring are studied here in depletion flocculated gels with short-ranged attractions, both experimentally and using computer simulations. In the experiments, we first carefully diffuse a screening organic salt to destabilize colloid-polymer mixtures and form a gel. We hence avoid flow history effects, typical of traditional mixing protocols.