We study suspensions of semiflexible colloidal rods and biopolymers using an Onsager-type second-virial functional for a segmented-chain model. For mixtures of thin and thick $fd$ virus particles, we calculate full phase diagrams, finding quantitative agreement with experimental observations. We show that flexibility, which renders the rods effectively shorter and thicker depending on the state point, is crucial to understanding the topologies of the phase diagrams. We also calculate the stretching of wormlike micelles in a host $fd$ virus suspension, finding agreement with experiments.

• Received 27 December 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.208302