# Kinetic pathways of the Nematic-Isotropic phase transition as studied by confocal microscopy on rod-like viruses

Source: [Kinetic pathways of the Nematic-Isotropic phase transition as studied by confocal microscopy on rod-like viruses](<https://www.sota2.com/research/paper/68fa26fe2c2a3760193bf3af>)

Collection index: [llms.txt](<https://www.sota2.com/research/llms.txt>)

Data updated: 2025-10-24T11:44:37.358Z

Authors: M. Paul Lettinga, Kyongok Kang, Arnout Imhof, Didi Derks, Jan K. G. Dhont

Published: 2005-10-07T10:09:17.000Z

## Abstract

We investigate the kinetics of phase separation for a mixture of rodlike viruses (fd) and polymer (dextran), which effectively constitutes a system of attractive rods. This dispersion is quenched from a flow-induced fully nematic state into the region where the nematic and the isotropic phase coexist. We show experimental evidence that the kinetic pathway depends on the overall concentration. When the quench is made at high concentrations, the system is meta-stable and we observe typical nucleation-and-growth. For quenches at low concentration the system is unstable and the system undergoes a spinodal decomposition. At intermediate concentrations we see the transition between both demixing processes, where we locate the spinodal point.

## Recorded benchmark results

A research result applies to its stated dataset, split, metric and evaluation configuration. Compare like-for-like settings, preserve the metric's unit and direction, and distinguish paper-reported results from independent reproduction. The best result recorded here is not a claim of exhaustive, current global coverage.

## Original sources and implementation

[Original paper](<https://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0510178>)

[PDF](<https://arxiv.org/pdf/cond-mat/0510178.pdf>)