(Phys.org) —The unusual properties of water, including its anomalous thermal expansion and density anomaly, have intrigued researchers for decades. These properties are notoriously hard to investigate experimentally owing to the inherently small length scales and complex interactions that appear to govern the physics of these materials. Studies of small particles (colloids) dispersed in solvents, known as colloidal suspensions, used as models for atomic and molecular liquids have shown that some of these anomalies can be engineered in colloidal suspensions of soft particles.
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