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Oral Qualifying Exam on Colloids and Complex Fluids

This exam focuses on basic physical understanding of the fundamental equilibrium, and especially dynamic(mainly the linear response regime), aspects of both colloidal suspensions and polymer liquids. However, if the student also chooses the qualifying exam "Macromolecular Liquids", then this exam will concentrate heavily on colloidal suspensions including a more in depth treatment of the equilibrium aspects ; the polymer component will focus on dynamical, linear viscoelastic behavior.

NON-EXHAUSTIVE TOPICAL AREAS

• Colloidal forces, structure, phase behavior, thermodynamic properties
• Brownian motion, hydrodynamic forces, and colloidal dynamics in dilute
• Suspensions
• Principles of dynamic light scattering; single particle versus collective diffusion; shear viscosity, stress relaxation in the time and frequency domains
• Single particle and collective dynamics in concentrated colloidal suspensions; behavior of "hard sphere" colloids, the "cage effect" and colloidal glass transition; role of attractive van der Waals and Coulomb forces
• Gelation of colloidal suspension ; elastic modulus, mechanical properties
• Qualitative structure of polymer molecules, melts and rubber networks
• Dynamics of dilute polymer solutions; hydrodynamic interactions; monomer friction constant
• Diffusion, viscoelasticity, and chain relaxation of unentangled and entangled polymer liquids; role of chain architecture

LEVEL (based on UIUC courses)

MSE598 : Dynamics of Complex Liquids (both colloid and polymer aspects)
MSE480 : Surfaces and Colloids

STANDARD TEXTS

• Russel, Saville and Schowalter, "Colloidal Dispersions"
• Larson, " Structure and rheology of Complex Fluids"
• Hunter, "Foundations of Colloid Science", volume 1
• Doi and Edwards, "The Theory of Polymer Dynamics"
• DeGennes, "Scaling Concepts in Polymer Physics"