Tailoring the Flow Properties of Soft Colloidal Dispersions

Summary: The dynamics and the non-linear rheology of concentrated dispersions of soft particles are shown to exhibit generic properties. They display both solid-like and liquid-like properties depending on the applied stress. Below the yield point, dispersions exhibit history-dependent phenomena that have all the hallmarks of ageing in glasses. The close-packed disordered structures of the dispersions lie at the heart of this behaviour. Other properties such as the propensity of pastes to slip on solid surfaces appear to be governed by specific contact interactions between the squeezed particles.