Aging process of the bond between colloidal particles measured using laser tweezers

Linear chains of polystyrene particles, the simplest form of aggregates, are assembled and then the aging behavior of the chain is studied by monitoring the time evolution of its bending elasticity using laser tweezers. The result from this microscopic method shows that the bond rigidity between particles evolves approximately linearly with time. And a sintering model is proposed to explain the main mechanism of the aging process. It is claimed that the microscopic method as we used is useful for getting fundamental experimental data to understand better the mechanism of the aging process. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.