Dissipative structure formation in colloidal systems

Self‐organization phenomena are observed in most real systems. Is this true also for colloidal or microemulsion systems? It is argued that the current general practice of assuming that polymeric and non‐polymeric colloidal systems are in equilibrium is not valid and that non‐equilibrium thermodynamics should be applied. Photon correlation spectroscopy experiments on polyaniline dispersions are considered to indicate the presence of elongated structures (Figure). magnified image