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…

Computer Simulation of Molten and Glassy Silica and its Mixtures with Sodium Oxide and Aluminium Oxide

The Importance of Intermediate Range Order in Silicates: Molecular Dynamics Simulation Studies

We present the results of large scale computer simulations in which we investigate the structural and dynamic properties of silicate melts with the compositions (Na2O)2(SiO2) and (Al2O3)2(Si02). In order to treat such systems on a time scale of several nanoseconds and for system sizes of several thousand atoms it is necessary to use parallel supercomputers like the CRAY T3E. We show that the silicates under consideration exhibit additional intermediate range order as compared to silica (SiO2) where the characteristic intermediate length scales stem from the tetrahedral network structure. For the sodium silicate system it is demonstrated that the latter structural features are intimately con…

Monte Carlo simulations of the 2d-Ising model in the geometry of a long stripe

Abstract The two-dimensional Ising model in the geometry of a long stripe can be regarded as a model system for the study of nanopores. As a quasi-one-dimensional system, it also exhibits a rather interesting “phase behavior”: At low temperatures the stripe is either filled with “liquid” or “gas” and “densities” are similar to those in the bulk. When we approach a “pseudo-critical point” (below the critical point of the bulk) at which the correlation length becomes comparable to the length of the stripe, several interfaces emerge and the systems contains multiple “liquid” and “gas” domains. The transition depends on the size of the stripe and occurs at lower temperatures for larger stripes.…

Controlling the wetting properties of the Asakura-Oosawa model and applications to spherical confinement.

We demonstrate for the Asakura-Oosawa model and an extension of this model that uses continuous rather than hard potentials, how wetting properties at walls can be easily controlled. By increasing the interaction range of the repulsive wall potential acting on the colloids (while keeping the polymer-wall interactions constant) polymers begin to substitute colloids at walls and the system can be driven from complete wetting of colloids via partial wetting to complete wetting of polymers. As an application, we discuss the morphology and wetting behavior of colloid-polymer mixtures in spherical confinement. We apply the recently developed 'ensemble switch method' where the Hamiltonian is exten…

Modeling glass materials

Abstract Structural and dynamic properties of silicate melts and glasses (SiO 2 and its mixtures with Na 2 O and Al 2 O 3 ) are derived from Molecular Dynamics simulations and compared to pertinent experimental data. It is shown that these mixtures exhibit additional intermediate order as compared to pure silica, where the characteristic length scales stem from the tetrahedral network structure. While sodium ions show much faster diffusion through percolating channels than the silicon and oxygen ions forming the surrounding network, aluminium ions are incorporated into the network (leading to tricluster formation) and do not show such an enhanced mobility.

The interplay between structure and ionic motions in glasses

We present research examples that demonstrate how molecular dynamics simulations of real materials have reached a high level of sophistication. For simplicity, we focus on examples taken from our own research-although many other groups have done similarly valuable work on other systems and problems.

Intermediate Range Order in Silicate Melts and Glasses: Computer Simulation Studies

ABSTRACTWe present the results of large scale computer simulations to discuss the structural and dynamic properties of silicate melts with the compositions (Na2O)(2·SiO2), (Na2O)(20·SiO2) and (Al2O3)(2·SiO2). We show that these systems exhibit additional intermediate range order as compared to silica (SiO2) where the characteristic intermediate length scales stem from the tetrahedral network structure. Furthermore we show that the sodium dynamics in the sodium silicate systems exhibits a very peculiar feature: the long–time decay of the incoherent intermediate scattering function can be described by a Kohlrausch law with a constant exponent β for q > qth whereby qth is smaller than the l…