Ordering entropy

摘要

The study of colloidal systems has revealed many puzzles. To that list can now be added further examples, as presented in the paper by Adams and colleagues that appears on page 349 of this issue. The authors have looked at mixtures of colloidal rods and spheres acting as 'hard' particles. Depending on the experimental conditions, the ensuing behaviour of the mixture can vary from, for instance, separation into phases in which the rods are or are not concentrated, and into alternating layers of rods and spheres.