A reference interaction site model approach to depletion forces induced by hard rodlike particles.

We study the effective interactions among large hard spherical colloidal particles induced by small hard rodlike particles and compare them with those induced by small hard spherical particles to highlight the specific effects due to the anisotropic shape of the former. This is done by determining the effective pair potentials within the framework of the reference interaction site model approach. The rodlike particles are modeled as N nonoverlapping spherical units arranged in a straight line, so that their total length is N times their transversal diameter. These results are compared against those obtained in the Asakura-Oosawa limit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]