Morphology and mobility of synthetic colloidal aggregates

• Power-law clusters were created by a cluster–cluster agglomeration algorithm.
• The fractal prefactor describes local monomer distribution.
• The fractal dimension is an indicator of a cluster’s large-scale structure.
• We propose an accurate expression for the calculation of the hydrodynamic radius.
• The calculated hydrodynamic radius is independent of cluster statistical properties.

The relationship between geometric and dynamic properties of fractal-like aggregates is studied in the continuum mass and momentum-transfer regimes. The synthetic aggregates were generated by a cluster–cluster aggregation algorithm. The analysis of their morphological features suggests that the fractal dimension is a descriptor of a cluster’s large-scale structure, whereas the fractal prefactor is a local-structure indicator. For a constant fractal dimension, the prefactor becomes also an indicator of a cluster’s shape anisotropy. The hydrodynamic radius of orientationally averaged aggregates was calculated via molecule-aggregate collision rates determined from the solution of a Laplace equation. An empirical expression that relates the aggregate hydrodynamic radius to its radius of gyration and the number of primary particles is proposed. The suggested expression depends only on geometrical quantities, being independent of statistical (ensemble-averaged) properties like the fractal dimension and prefactor. Hydrodynamic radius predictions for a variety of fractal-like aggregates are in very good agreement with predictions of other methods and literature values. Aggregate dynamic shape factors and DLCA individual monomer hydrodynamic shielding factors are also calculated.

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