On shape and charges in colloidal dispersions

Coulomb interactions are paramount in determining structural and dynamical properties for a wealth of anisotropic soft matter systems (clays, mineral crystallites, exfoliated nanosheets, patchy colloids, cement etc). The interplay between screening effects and anisotropy leads to distinctive yet often overlooked features, that will be discussed. In turn, the competition between the resulting effective potential and hard core constraints will be addressed. This competition can lead to non trivial structures, or impose strong dynamical slowing down. A distinction will be operated between weak and strong Coulomb coupling regimes.