A two-level, discrete-particle approach for simulating ordered colloidal structures
The authors devise a new, two-level discrete-particle model to simulate ordered colloidal structures with vastly different scales. The authors use the molecular dynamics paradigm with a Lennard-Jones-type potential to define colloidal particle system and dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) to model the solvent. The initially mixed, disordered particle ensemble undergoes a phase transition. The authors observe the spontaneous creation of spherical or rod-like micelles and their crystallization in stable hexagonal or worm-like structures, respectively. The ordered arrays obtained by using the particle model are similar to the two-dimensional colloidal crystals observed in laboratory experiments. The micelle shape depends on the ratio between the scaling factors of the colloid-colloid to colloid-solvent particle interactions. The properties of the DPD solvent, such as the strongly variable viscosity and partial pressure, determine the speed of crystallization. The intriguing features of colloidal arrays and their exotic symmetries, which persist also over two-dimensional domains, can be simulated numerically by using the two-level discrete-particle approach and are illustrated here.
- Research Organization:
- AGH Inst. of Computer Science, Krakow (PL)
- OSTI ID:
- 20075585
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Vol. 225, Issue 1; Other Information: PBD: 1 May 2000; ISSN 0021-9797
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Engineering the Evaporation Driven Assembly of Nanostructured Ceramics
Predicting dynamics and rheology of blood flow: A comparative study of multiscale and low-dimensional models of red blood cells