INTERACTIONS, PHASE-TRANSITIONS AND METASTABLE STATES IN CONCENTRATEDCOLLOIDAL DISPERSIONS

We describe three situations in which strong, short-ranged attractive interactions between colloidal particles arise. These attractions can be induced by the quality of the solvent, addition of non-adsorbing po lymer or addition of small colloidal particles. In all three cases pha se transitions arise. On further increasing the strength of the attrac tions, the attainment of thermodynamic equilibrium is severely slowed down, or even suppressed.