Brownian dynamics studies of dilute dispersions

The method of brownian dynamics of used to study the non-equilibrium properties of very dilute colloids electrostatically stabilised in dilute aqueous electrolyte. It is assumed that the colloid is a monodisperse system of structureless spherical particles embedded in a hydrodynamic continuum. Although the particles are interacting electrostatically through a screened Coulomb potential, the dilution is such that effects arising from coupling of hydrodynamic flow can be ignore. Studies of the self-diffusion coefficient and van Howe functions show that after an initial period, during which the particles move essentially independently, the flow properties of the colloids are significantly different from those expected on the basis of free brownian motion.