Ultrasoft colloid-polymer mixtures: structure and phase diagram

Binary mixtures of ultrasoft colloids and linear polymer chains were investigated by small-angle neutron scattering and liquid state theory. We show that experimental data can be described by employing recently developed effective interactions between the colloid and the polymer chains, in which both components are modeled as point particles in a coarse-grained approach, in which the monomers have been traced out. Quantitative, parameter-free agreement between experiment and theory for the pair correlations, the phase behavior and the concentration dependence of the interaction length is achieved.