0000000000464992
AUTHOR
Roland G. Winkler
Confinement-induced screening of hydrodynamic interactions and spinodal decomposition: Multiscale simulations of colloid-polymer mixtures
Phase separation kinetics of a colloid-polymer mixture confined between two planar repulsive walls is studied by a multiscale simulation approach. Colloids and polymers are described by particles interacting with continuous potentials suitable for molecular-dynamics simulation, while hydrodynamic interactions mediated by solvent particles are accounted for by the multiparticle collision dynamics method. Varying the distance D between the walls and the character of the boundary conditions, the interplay of structure formation parallel and perpendicular to the walls is studied, and the effect of hydrodynamics on the growth of domain size ld(t) with time t is elucidated. Only for slip boundary…
Hydrodynamic mechanisms of spinodal decomposition in confined colloid-polymer mixtures: A multiparticle collision dynamics study
A multiscale model for a colloid-polymer mixture is developed. The colloids are described as point particles interacting with each other and with the polymers with strongly repulsive potentials, while polymers interact with each other with a softer potential. The fluid in the suspension is taken into account by the multiparticle collision dynamics method (MPC). Considering a slit geometry where the suspension is confined between parallel repulsive walls, different possibilities for the hydrodynamic boundary conditions (b.c.) at the walls (slip versus stick) are treated. Quenching experiments are considered, where the system volume is suddenly reduced (keeping the density of the solvent flui…