On the phase behavior of hard aspherical particles

Abstract

We use numerical simulations to understand how random deviations from the ideal spherical shape affect the ability of hard particles to form fcc crystalline structures. Using a system of hard spheres as a reference, we determine the fluid-solid coexistence pressures of both shape-polydisperse and monodisperse systems of aspherical hard particles. We find that when particles are sufficiently isotropic, the coexistence pressure can be predicted from a linear relation involving the product of two simple geometric parameters characterizing the asphericity of the particles. Finally, our results allow us to gain direct insight into the crystallizability limits of these systems by rationalizing empirical data obtained for analogous monodisperse systems.

5 pages, 3 figures. Published in the Journal of Chemical Physics

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Cited by in corpus (5)

• Phase diagram of colloidal hard superballs: from cubes via spheres to octahedra
• The crystallization of asymmetric patchy models for globular proteins in solution
• Structural characterisation of polycrystalline colloidal monolayers in the presence of aspherical impurities
• Polyhedral colloidal `rocks': low-dimensional networks
• Structural diversity and the role of particle shape and dense fluid behavior in assemblies of hard polyhedra