Molecular structure and multi-body potential of mean force in silica-polystyrene nanocomposites

We perform a systematic application of the hybrid particle-field molecular dynamics technique [Milano et al, J. Chem. Phys. 2009, 130, 214106] to study interfacial properties and potential of mean force (PMF) for separating nanoparticles (NPs) in a melt. Specifically, we consider Silica NPs bare or grafted with Polystyrene chains, aiming to shed light on the interactions among free and grafted chains affecting the dispersion of NPs in the nanocomposite. The proposed hybrid models show good performances in catching the local structure of the chains, and in particular their density profiles, documenting the existence of the "wet-brush-to-dry-brush" transition. By using these models, the PMF b…