Biomedical subjects

L F Rojas-Ochoa

Publications and source records attributed to L F Rojas-Ochoa.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Photonic properties of strongly correlated colloidal liquids.

The optical and structural properties of dense colloidal suspensions in the presence of long-range electrostatic repulsion are determined from both light and small-angle neutron scattering experiments. Short-range structural order induces an enhancement of the scattering strength while at the same time the total transmission shows strong wavelength dependence, reminiscent of a photonic crystal. Interestingly, the interplay between diffusive scattering and local order leads to negative values of the scattering anisotropy parameter. The tunable optical properties of these liquids furthermore suggest potential applications such as transparency switches or filters.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2002

Structure, dynamics, and optical properties of concentrated milk suspensions: an analogy to hard-sphere liquids.

A systematic study of the effects of volume fraction increment on the optical properties, the structure, and the dynamics of the casein micelles and fat droplets in milk was performed using diffusing wave spectroscopy. Four types of milk were investigated, NIDO full fat milk, fat-free milk, whey and fat-free milk, and finally lactose and fat-free milk. Independent measurements to calculate the dependence of the viscosity and the index of refraction of the milk serum and casein micelles as a function of the volume fraction were also performed. We compare the experimentally determined quantities photon transport mean free path (l*) and self-diffusion coefficient D(s) with the predictions from theoretical calculations using classical colloidal models such as a hard-sphere fluid. We demonstrate that all types of milk with and without fat content behave, structurally, like colloidal hard-sphere systems up to volume fractions well over 45%. In the case of dynamic measurements, both lactose- and fat-free and whey- and fat-free milk behave also like hard-sphere systems whereas fat-free milk and fat-containing NIDO milk deviate slightly at volume fractions over 35%. Finally, a comparative measurement and theoretical calculation of the casein micelle's size was performed.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Diffusing wave spectroscopy and small-angle neutron scattering from concentrated colloidal suspensions.

We have studied the properties of dense colloidal suspensions with a combination of small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and diffusing wave spectroscopy (DWS). Contrary to single light scattering, DWS provides dynamic information on length scales, from 1 to 100 nm, comparable to SANS. This offers a unique range of accessible length and time scales perfectly suited for the (noninvasive) investigation of highly concentrated systems. By this we obtain valuable information about the structural properties and the short-time diffusion of electrostatically stabilized, but strongly screened, hard-sphere-like colloidal suspensions with volume fractions up to 30%. We furthermore discuss the consequences of local structural ordering on the optical properties, such as optical density and polarization. Quantitative agreement is found when comparing transmission measurements (optical density) with parameter-free numerical calculations based on the structural characterization from SANS.

Biophysics↗