Fluid-solid transitions in soft-repulsive colloids
We use monodisperse poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) microgels as a model system for soft repulsive colloids and study their density dependent structural ordering and phase behaviour using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). The experiments are carried out at low temperatures, where the particles are in the swollen state and interact via a Hertzian potential, evidenced through a quantit