Atomistic Computer Simulation and Experimental Study on the Dynamics of the n-Cyanobiphenyls Mesogenic Series

Predicting Spontaneous Orientational Self-Assembly: In Silico Design of Materials with Quantum Mechanically Derived Force Fields

De novo design of self-assembled materials hinges upon our ability to relate macroscopic properties to individual building blocks, thus characterizing in such supramolecular architectures a wide range of observables at varied time/length scales. This work demonstrates that quantum mechanical derived force fields (QMD-FFs) do satisfy this requisite and, most importantly, do so in a predictive manner. To this end, a specific FF, built solely based on the knowledge of the target molecular structure, is employed to reproduce the spontaneous transition to an ordered liquid crystal phase. The simulations deliver a multiscale portrait of such self-assembly processes, where conformational changes within the individual building blocks are intertwined with a 200 ns ensemble reorganization. The extensive characterization provided not only is in quantitative agreement with the experiment but also connects the time/length scales at which it was performed. Realizing QMD-FF predictive power and unmatched accuracy stands as an important leap forward for the bottom-up design of advanced supramolecular materials.

Automated Parameterization of Quantum Mechanically Derived Force Fields for Soft Materials and Complex Fluids: Development and Validation

The reliability of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in predicting macroscopic properties of complex fluids and soft materials, such as liquid crystals, colloidal suspensions, or polymers, relies on the accuracy of the adopted force field (FF). We present an automated protocol to derive specific and accurate FFs, fully based on ab initio quantum mechanical (QM) data. The integration of the Joyce and Picky procedures, recently proposed by our group to provide an accurate description of simple liquids, is here extended to larger molecules, capable of exhibiting more complex fluid phases. While the standard Joyce protocol is employed to parameterize the intramolecular FF term, a new automated procedure is here proposed to handle the computational cost of the QM calculations required for the parameterization of the intermolecular FF term. The latter is thus obtained by integrating the old Picky procedure with a fragmentation reconstruction method (FRM) that allows for a reliable, yet computationally feasible sampling of the intermolecular energy surface at the QM level. The whole FF parameterization protocol is tested on a benchmark liquid crystal, and the performances of the resulting quantum mechanically derived (QMD) FF were compared with those delivered by a general-purpose, transferable one, and by the third, "hybrid" FF, where only the bonded terms were refined against QM data. Lengthy atomistic MD simulations are carried out with each FF on extended 5CB systems in both isotropic and nematic phases, eventually validating the proposed protocol by comparing the resulting macroscopic properties with other computational models and with experiments. The QMD-FF yields the best performances, reproducing both phases in the correct range of temperatures and well describing their structure, dynamics, and thermodynamic properties, thus providing a clear protocol that may be explored to predict such properties on other complex fluids or soft materials.

Atomistic Mechanism of Anisotropic Heat Conduction in the Liquid Crystal 4-Heptyl-4'-cyanobiphenyl: All-Atom Molecular Dynamics

All-atom molecular dynamics simulations were performed on 4-heptyl-4'-cyanobiphenyl (7CB) to study the mechanism of heat conduction in this nematic liquid crystal atomistically. To describe 7CB properly, the AMBER-type force field was optimized for the dihedral parameter of biphenyl and the Lennard-Jones parameters. The molecular dynamics calculation using the optimized force field well reproduced the experimental values of the isotropic-nematic phase transition temperature, density, and anisotropy of the thermal conductivity. Furthermore, the contributions of convection, intramolecular interaction, and intermolecular interaction to the thermal conductivity were determined by performing thermal conductivity decomposition analysis. According to the analysis, the contributions of convection, bond stretching, and bond bending interactions were higher in the direction parallel to the nematic director than that perpendicular to the director, which is the origin of the anisotropy in the nematic phase. This result indicates that the anisotropy is caused by well-aligned covalent bonds and high mobility parallel to the director. This quantitative description of the mechanism of heat conduction of 7CB is foreseen to provide new insights toward designing highly thermally conductive liquid-crystalline materials.

Nanoscale liquid crystal lubrication controlled by surface structure and film composition

Liquid crystals have emerged as potential candidates for next-generation lubricants due to their tendency to exhibit long-range ordering. Here, we construct a full atomistic model of 4-cyano-4-hexylbiphenyl (6CB) nematic liquid crystal lubricants mixed with hexane and confined by mica surfaces. We explore the effect of the surface structure of mica, as well as lubricant composition and thickness, on the nanoscale friction in the system. Our results demonstrate the key role of the structure of the mica surfaces, specifically the positions of potassium (K+) ions, in determining the nature of sliding friction with monolayer lubricants, including the presence or absence of stick-slip dynamics. With the commensurate setup of confining surfaces, when the grooves created between the periodic K+ ions are parallel to the sliding direction we observe a lower friction force as compared to the perpendicular situation. Random positions of ions exhibit even smaller friction forces with respect to the previous two cases. For thicker lubrication layers the surface structure becomes less important and we observe a good agreement with the experimental data on bulk viscosity of 6CB and the additive hexane. In case of thicker lubrication layers, friction may still be controlled by tuning the relative concentrations of 6CB and hexane in the mixture.

The inherent dynamics of isotropic- and nematic-phase liquid crystals

The geodesic (shortest) pathways through the potential energy landscape of a liquid can be thought of as defining what its dynamics would be if thermal noise were removed, revealing what we have called the "inherent dynamics" of the liquid. We show how these inherent paths can be located for a model liquid crystal former, showing, in the process, how the molecular mechanisms of translation and reorientation compare in the isotropic and nematic phases of these systems. These mechanisms turn out to favor the preservation of local orientational order even under macroscopically isotropic conditions (a finding consistent with the experimental observation of pseudonematic domains in these cases), but disfavor the maintenance of macroscopic orientational order, even in the nematic phase. While the most efficient nematic pathways that maintain nematic order are indeed shorter than those that do not, it is apparently difficult for the system to locate these paths, suggesting that molecular motion in liquid-crystal formers is dynamically frustrated, and reinforcing the sense that there are strong analogies between liquid crystals and supercooled liquids.

Comparison of the accuracy of periodic reaction field methods in molecular dynamics simulations of a model liquid crystal system

A periodic reaction field (PRF) method is a technique to estimate long-range interactions. The method has the potential to effectively reduce the computational cost while maintaining adequate accuracy. We performed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of a model liquid-crystal system to assess the accuracy of some variations of the PRF method in low-charge-density systems. All the methods had adequate accuracy compared with the results of the particle mesh Ewald (PME) method, except for a few simulation conditions. Furthermore, in all of the simulation conditions, one of the PRF methods had the same accuracy as the PME method.

Joyce and Ulysses: integrated and user-friendly tools for the parameterization of intramolecular force fields from quantum mechanical data

The Joyce program is augmented with several new features, including the user friendly Ulysses GUI, the possibility of complete excited state parameterization and a more flexible treatment of the force field electrostatic terms. A first validation is achieved by successfully comparing results obtained with Joyce2.0 to literature ones, obtained for the same set of benchmark molecules. The parameterization protocol is also applied to two other larger molecules, namely nicotine and a coumarin based dye. In the former case, the parameterized force field is employed in molecular dynamics simulations of solvated nicotine, and the solute conformational distribution at room temperature is discussed. Force fields parameterized with Joyce2.0, for both the dye's ground and first excited electronic states, are validated through the calculation of absorption and emission vertical energies with molecular mechanics optimized structures. Finally, the newly implemented procedure to handle polarizable force fields is discussed and applied to the pyrimidine molecule as a test case.

An automated approach for the parameterization of accurate intermolecular force-fields: pyridine as a case study

An automated protocol is proposed and validated, which integrates accurate quantum mechanical calculations with classical numerical simulations. Intermolecular force fields, (FF) suitable for molecular dynamics (MD) and Monte Carlo simulations, are parameterized through a novel iterative approach, fully based on quantum mechanical data, which has been automated and coded into the PICKY software, here presented. The whole procedure is tested and validated for pyridine, whose bulk phase, described through MD simulations performed with the specifically parameterized FF, is characterized by computing several of its thermodynamic, structural, and transport properties, comparing them with their experimental counterparts.