Transport in a highly asymmetric binary fluid mixture

We present molecular dynamics calculations of the thermal conductivity and viscosities of a model colloidal suspension with colloidal particles roughly one order of magnitude larger than the suspending liquid molecules. The results are compared with estimates based on the Enskog transport theory and effective medium theories (EMT) for thermal and viscous transport. We find, in particular, that EMT remains well applicable for predicting both the shear viscosity and thermal conductivity of such suspensions when the colloidal particles have a "typical" mass, i.e., much larger than the liquid molecules. Very light colloidal particles on the other hand yield higher thermal conductivities, in disagreement with EMT. We also discuss the consequences of these results for some proposed mechanisms for thermal conduction in nanocolloidal suspensions.