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Science 21 March 1997:
Vol. 275. no. 5307, pp. 1770 - 1773
DOI: 10.1126/science.275.5307.1770
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Reports

Novel Colloidal Interactions in Anisotropic Fluids

Philippe Poulin, Holger Stark, * T. C. Lubensky, D. A. Weitz

Small water droplets dispersed in a nematic liquid crystal exhibit a novel class of colloidal interactions, arising from the orientational elastic energy of the anisotropic host fluid. These interactions include a short-range repulsion and a long-range dipolar attraction, and they lead to the formation of anisotropic chainlike structures by the colloidal particles. The repulsive interaction can lead to novel mechanisms for colloid stabilization.

Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
*   Present address: Institut für Theoretische und Angewandte Physik, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, D-70550, Stuttgart, Germany.

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)