Monte-Carlo simulation of string-like colloidal assembly

Abstract

We study structural phase transition of polymer-grafted colloidal particles by Monte Carlo simulations on hard spherical particles. The interaction potential, which has a weak repulsive step outside the hard core, was validated with use of the self-consistent field calculations. With this potential, canonical Monte Carlo simulations have been carried out in two and three dimensions using the Metropolis algorithm. At low temperature and high density, we find that the particles start to self-assemble and finally align in strings. By analyzing the cluster size distribution and string length distribution, we construct a phase diagram and find that this string-like assembly is related to the percolation phenomena. The average string length diverges in the region where the melting transition line and the percolation transition line cross, which is similar to Ising spin systems where the percolation transition line and the order-disorder line meet on the critical point.

arXiv comment7 pages, 6 figures, Accepted for Europhysics Letters

Cited by in corpus (20)

• Soft Spheres Make More Mesophases
• Quasi-binary amorphous phase in a 3D system of particles with repulsive-shoulder interactions
• Observation of condensed phases of quasi-planar core-softened colloids
• Breakdown of The Excess Entropy Scaling for the Systems with Thermodynamic Anomalies
• Zero temperature phase diagram of the square-shoulder system
• Lane-formation vs. cluster-formation in two dimensional square-shoulder systems: A genetic algorithm approach
• Polyelectrolyte-Compression Forces between Spherical DNA Brushes
• Complex Phase Behavior of The System of Particles with Smooth Potential with Repulsive Shoulder and Attractive Well
• Inverse Design of Multicomponent Assemblies
• Pattern formation in two-dimensional hard-core/soft-shell systems with variable soft shell profiles
• Self-assembly of binary nanoparticle dispersions: from square arrays and stripe phases to colloidal corrals
• Particle Monte Carlo simulation of string-like colloidal assembly in 3 dimensions
• Particle Monte Carlo simulation of string-like colloidal assembly in 2 dimensions
• Stripe phase of two-dimensional core-softened systems: structure recognition
• Molecular simulation of 2-dimensional microphase separation of single-component homopolymers grafted onto a planar substrate
• Equilibrium clusters in suspensions of colloids interacting via potentials with a local minimum
• Self-assembly of core-corona particles confined in a circular box
• Two-dimensional percolation phenomena of single-component linear homopolymer brushes
• Molecular-shape- and size-independent power-law dependence of percolation thresholds on radius of gyration in ideal molecular systems
• Conducting transition analysis of thin films composed of long flexible macromolecules: Percolation study