TANAKA LAB. Physics of Soft Condensed Matter The University of Tokyo Graduate School of Engineering Department of Applied Physics The University of Tokyo Institute of Industrial Science Department of Fundamental Engineering
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Phase Separation in a Normal Fluid MixtureViscoelastic Phase SeparationPhase Separation of Colloidal SuspensionsNumerical Simulations of Viscoelastic Phase SeparationMicro-Phase Separation in Diblock CopolymerInterplay between Wetting and Phase SeparationPhase Separation under External FieldsDynamic Control of the Smectic MembranesCritical Phenomena in Polymer SolutionsCoil-Globule Transition of a Single PolymerColloidal ‘Atom’Colloidal Gel NetworkElectrophoretic Separation of Charged ParticlesAggregation of Charged Colloidal SystemsSurface-Assisted Monodomain Formation of a Lyotropic Liquid CrystalShear-Induced Topological Transitions in a Membrane SystemSpontaneous Onion-Structure FormationSelf-Organization in Phase Separation of a Lyotropic Liquid CrystalTransparent Nematic Phase in a Liquid-Crystal-Based MicroemulsionColloidal Aggregation in a Nematic Liquid CrystalPhase Separation of a Mixture of an Isotropic Liquid and a Liquid CrystalSpontaneous Partitioning of Particles in a Membrane System

Phase Separation in a Normal Fluid Mixture

Phase Separation in a Normal Fluid Mixture We demonstrate by numerical simulations that spinodal decomposition of fluid mixtures is strongly dependent upon their “fluidity,” which characterizes the relative importance of the two relevant transport mechanisms, hydrodynamic flow and diffusion. Thus, it may not be “universal,” at least in two dimensions. For a high fluidity, we find “spontaneous double phase separation.” We confirm that this unusual phenomenon is caused by the following mechanism: High fluidity causes rapid geometrical coarsening of domains due to a hydrodynamic process, which is too fast for diffusion to follow. This brings the system out of equilibrium and induces secondary phase separation.

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