胶体在基础物理研究中的应用∗

摘要

Colloidal particles in solution exhibit rich phase behaviors and behavior like “big-atom”. In the past decades, as modelling systems, colloids have been widely employed in the study of nucleation, crystallization, glass transition and melting. A number of advances have been achieved. These advances to a large extent extend and complete the understanding of various phase transitions. Recently, a number of active fields are emerging with colloidal model systems. In this review, the advances and the emerging fields are summarized. At the end, the potential directions and the challenges for future studies are suggested.%胶体颗粒在溶液中展现出丰富的类原子相行为。因此胶体体系被广泛用作研究相变过程的实验模型体系。在过去二三十年中，利用胶体体系，人们对结晶、成核、玻璃化转变和缺陷等基础物理现象做了大量的深入研究，并取得了丰富的成果。这些成果极大地拓展和完善了人们对各种相变现象的了解。本文对最近相关的研究进展和研究成果做了回顾和总结，对正在兴起的研究方向做了介绍，对未来可能的发展方向和面临的挑战做了简述。