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Dynamics of Colloids and Macromolecules

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Encyclopedia of Biophysics

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Synonyms

Colloidal and macromolecular dynamics; Dynamic light scattering; Light scattering

Introduction

The dynamics of colloids and macromolecules is a very broad topic. It deals with time-dependent phenomena of all kinds in colloidal suspensions and macromolecular solutions. Due to space limitations, here, we concentrate on a single aspect: Brownian motion in dilute dispersions.

The colloidal and macromolecular world is dominated by thermal agitation. This leads not only to internal motion in flexible macromolecules but also to rotational and translational diffusion. A study of the translational diffusion of colloids by Jean Perrin (1923) first convinced the scientific world of the granularity of matter: The Brownian motion of a colloid seen in a microscope is the random motion of the molecules in the surrounding liquid made visible. Today, probing the Brownian motion of colloids and macromolecules forms the foundation of one of the most useful techniques for particle sizing:...

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Acknowledgments

The version of the theory of DDM given here was originally due to Prof. Peter Pusey. We thank Dr. Laurence Wilson for supplying Fig. 3 and the associated data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Condensed Matter Physics Laboratory, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Stefan U. Egelhaaf

  2. SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Wilson C. K. Poon

Authors
  1. Stefan U. Egelhaaf
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  2. Wilson C. K. Poon
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stefan U. Egelhaaf .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University Leicester MRC Centre, Leicester, United Kingdom

    Gordon Roberts

  2. Dept Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

    Anthony Watts

Section Editor information

  1. No affiliation provided

    Stephen E. Harding

  2. No affiliation provided

    Mary Philips-Jones

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© 2018 European Biophysical Societies' Association (EBSA)

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Egelhaaf, S.U., Poon, W.C.K. (2018). Dynamics of Colloids and Macromolecules. In: Roberts, G., Watts, A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Biophysics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35943-9_286-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35943-9_286-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-35943-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-35943-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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