Glassy Behavior of a Tin Dioxide Nanoparticle Suspension

Dilute suspensions of charged colloidal particles with a short-range attraction and long-range repulsion can exhibit a variety of arrested states. In many applications using suspensions of charged nanoparticles, the optimization of the process requires the understanding of the mechanism underlying the stability and the rheological properties of the suspensions. In an attempt to clarify the solidification mechanism for dilute suspensions of tin dioxide (SnO₂) nanoparticles, we present dynamic viscoelasticity, dynamic and static light scattering, and small-angle X-ray scattering experiments on a SnO₂ nanoparticle suspension with a nanoparticle concentration of 25.0 wt % (volume fraction φ = 0.045). The behaviors of the observed dynamic and static structure factors reveal that the aging of SnO₂ nanoparticles is Wigner glassy rather than gel-like.