Manley, SulianaDavidovitch, B.Davies, N. R.Cipelletti, L.Bailey, A. E.Christianson, R. J.Gasser, U.Prasad, V.Segre, P. N.Doherty, M. P.Sankaran, S.Jankovsky, A. L.Shiley, B.Bowen, J.Eggers, J.Kurta, C.Lorik, T.Weitz, D. A.2012-11-262012-11-262012-11-26200510.1103/PhysRevLett.95.048302https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/87076Colloidal silica gels are shown to stiffen with time, as demonstrated by both dynamic light scattering and bulk rheological measurements. Their elastic moduli increase as a power law with time, independent of particle volume fraction; however, static light scattering indicates that there are no large-scale structural changes. We propose that increases in local elasticity arising from bonding between neighboring colloidal particles can account for the strengthening of the network, while preserving network structure. © 2005 The American Physical Society.text::journal::journal article::research article