Metastability and Depletion-Driven Aggregation

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Abstract
Depletion-driven self-assembly in binary colloidal mixtures is studied via the time evolution of the cluster-size distribution and structure factor as the mixtures equilibrate after shear melting. The data suggest a two-stage crystallization process governed by an initial collapse into an amorphous metastable state, the growth kinetics of which are interpreted within the context of reversible aggregation and early-stage phase separation.