Phase behaviour in 2D assemblies of dumbbell-shaped colloids generated under geometrical confinement

Soft Matter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rouven Stuckert ◽  
Anton Lüders ◽  
Alexander Wittemann ◽  
Peter Nielaba
Keyword(s):  
Structure Formation ◽  
Brownian Dynamics ◽  
Phase Behaviour ◽  
Voronoi Tessellations ◽  
Structural Motifs ◽  
Shape Factors ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Probability Densities ◽  
Dynamics Simulations ◽  
Brownian Dynamics Simulations

Structure formation in experimental monolayers of dumbbell particles is explored and compared to Brownian dynamics simulations. Probability densities of shape factors found in Voronoi tessellations allow for an in-depth analysis of structural motifs.

scholarly journals Structure formation in suspensions under uniform electric or magnetic field

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantinos Manikas ◽  
Georgios G. Vogiatzis ◽  
Markus Hütter ◽  
Patrick D. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
External Field ◽  
Structure Formation ◽  
Brownian Dynamics ◽  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Structural Evolution ◽  
Thermal Fluctuations ◽  
Branch Points ◽  
Dynamics Simulations ◽  
Brownian Dynamics Simulations

AbstractThe structure formation of particles with induced dipoles dispersed in a viscous fluid, under a spatially and temporarily uniform external electric or magnetic field, is investigated by means of Brownian Dynamics simulations. Dipole–dipole interactions forces, excluded volume forces and thermal fluctuations are accounted for. The resulting structures are characterized in terms of average orientation of their inter-particle vectors (second Legendre polynomial), network structure, size of particle clusters, anisotropy of the gyration tensor of every cluster and existence of (cluster) percolation. The magnitude of the strength of the external field and the volume fraction of particles are varied and the structural evolution of the system is followed in time. The results show that the characteristic timescale calculated from the interaction of only two dipoles is also valid for the collective dynamics of many-particle simulations. In addition, the magnitude of the strength of the external field in the range of values we investigate influences only the magnitude of the deviations around the average behavior. The main characteristics (number density of branch-points and thickness of branches) of the structure are mainly affected by the volume fraction. The possibility of 3D printing these systems is explored. While the paper provides the details about the case of an electric field, all results presented here can be translated directly into the case of a magnetic field and paramagnetic particles.

scholarly journals Macromolecular crowding directs the motion of small molecules inside cells

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (131) ◽  
pp. 20170047 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Smith ◽  
Claudia Cianci ◽  
Ramon Grima
Keyword(s):  
Small Particle ◽  
Brownian Dynamics ◽  
Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations ◽  
Spherical Particles ◽  
Brownian Diffusion ◽  
Advection Diffusion Equation ◽  
Probability Densities ◽  
Non Gaussian ◽  
Dynamics Simulations ◽  
Brownian Dynamics Simulations

It is now well established that cell interiors are significantly crowded by macromolecules, which impede diffusion and enhance binding rates. However, it is not fully appreciated that levels of crowding are heterogeneous, and can vary substantially between subcellular regions. In this article, starting from a microscopic model, we derive coupled nonlinear partial differential equations for the concentrations of two populations of large and small spherical particles with steric volume exclusion. By performing an expansion in the ratio of the particle sizes, we find that the diffusion of a small particle in the presence of large particles obeys an advection–diffusion equation, with a reduced diffusion coefficient and a velocity directed towards less crowded regions. The interplay between advection and diffusion leads to behaviour that differs significantly from Brownian diffusion. We show that biologically plausible distributions of macromolecules can lead to highly non-Gaussian probability densities for the small particle position, including asymmetrical and multimodal densities. We confirm all our results using hard-sphere Brownian dynamics simulations.

scholarly journals Structure evolution of suspensions under time-dependent electric or magnetic field

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantinos Manikas ◽  
Markus Hütter ◽  
Patrick D. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Field Strength ◽  
Brownian Dynamics ◽  
Thermal Fluctuations ◽  
Time Dependent ◽  
Structure Evolution ◽  
Strength Increase ◽  
Large Rotation ◽  
Dynamics Simulations ◽  
Brownian Dynamics Simulations

AbstractThe effect of time-dependent external fields on the structures formed by particles with induced dipoles dispersed in a viscous fluid is investigated by means of Brownian Dynamics simulations. The physical effects accounted for are thermal fluctuations, dipole-dipole and excluded volume interactions. The emerging structures are characterised in terms of particle clusters (orientation, size, anisotropy and percolation) and network structure. The strength of the external field is increased in one direction and then kept constant for a certain amount of time, with the structure formation being influenced by the slope of the field-strength increase. This effect can be partially rationalized by inhomogeneous time re-scaling with respect to the field strength, however, the presence of thermal fluctuations makes the scaling at low field strength inappropriate. After the re-scaling, one can observe that the lower the slope of the field increase, the more network-like and the thicker the structure is. In the second part of the study the field is also rotated instantaneously by a certain angle, and the effect of this transition on the structure is studied. For small rotation angles ($$\theta \le 20^{{\circ }}$$ θ ≤ 20 ∘ ) the clusters rotate but stay largely intact, while for large rotation angles ($$\theta \ge 80^{{\circ }}$$ θ ≥ 80 ∘ ) the structure disintegrates and then reforms, due to the nature of the interactions (parallel dipoles with perpendicular inter-particle vector repel each other). For intermediate angles ($$20<\theta <80^{{\circ }}$$ 20 < θ < 80 ∘ ), it seems that, during rotation, the structure is altered towards a more network-like state, as a result of cluster fusion (larger clusters). The details provided in this paper concern an electric field, however, all results can be projected into the case of a magnetic field and paramagnetic particles.

scholarly journals Influence of size polydispersity on magnetic field tunable structures in magnetic nanofluids containing superparamagnetic nanoparticles.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dillip Kumar Mohapatra ◽  
Philip James Camp ◽  
John Philip
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Particle Size ◽  
Light Scattering ◽  
Optical Microscopy ◽  
Brownian Dynamics ◽  
Phase Contrast ◽  
Superparamagnetic Nanoparticles ◽  
Magnetic Nanofluids ◽  
Dynamics Simulations ◽  
Brownian Dynamics Simulations

We probe the influence of particle size polydispersity on field-induced structures and structural transitions in magnetic fluids (ferrofluids) using phase contrast optical microscopy, light scattering and Brownian dynamics simulations. Three...

scholarly journals Hard discs under steady shear: comparison of Brownian dynamics simulations and mode coupling theory

2009 ◽  
Vol 367 (1909) ◽  
pp. 5033-5050 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Henrich ◽  
Fabian Weysser ◽  
Michael E. Cates ◽  
Matthias Fuchs
Keyword(s):  
Brownian Dynamics ◽  
Mode Coupling ◽  
Transition Density ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Coupling Theory ◽  
Mode Coupling Theory ◽  
Stationary Structure ◽  
Homogeneous Shear Flow ◽  
Dynamics Simulations ◽  
Brownian Dynamics Simulations

Brownian dynamics simulations of bidisperse hard discs moving in two dimensions in a given steady and homogeneous shear flow are presented close to and above the glass transition density. The stationary structure functions and stresses of shear-melted glass are compared quantitatively to parameter-free numerical calculations of monodisperse hard discs using mode coupling theory within the integration through transients framework. Theory qualitatively explains the properties of the yielding glass but quantitatively overestimates the shear-driven stresses and structural anisotropies.

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